Biswanath Somadder (born 15 December 1963) is an Indian Judge. Presently, he is Chief Justice of

Sikkim High Court The Sikkim High Court is the High Court of the Indian state of Sikkim. The history of the court can be traced back to 1955, when the High Court of Judicature (Jurisdiction and Powers) Proclamation, 1955 was issued to establish a High Court in S ...

. He is former Chief Justice of

Meghalaya High Court The Meghalaya High Court is the High Court of the state of Meghalaya. It was established in March 2013, after making suitable amendments in the Constitution of India and North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act of 1971. Earlier, a bench of t ...

. He is also former

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...

and

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...

. He has also served as Acting Chief Justice of the

Early life and education

Somadder was born on 15 December 1963. He completed his schooling from the La Martiniere for Boys school,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. He then passed his Bachelor of Arts and

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

and also completed a Certificate Course on Office Automation Tools under the Computer Education Programme of the Regional Computer Centre,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Career

Somadder was enrolled as an Advocate on 21 July 1989. He practised in the High Court at Calcutta as well as the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

and also appeared before CESTAT, Eastern Regional Bench. Somadder practised in Constitutional (Customs & Central Excise, FERA, Telecommunication, Education, Service and Income Tax), Arbitration, Company, Revenue, Civil and Criminal matters, and specialised in Revenue, Arbitration and Constitutional laws. Somadder was Senior Counsel for the Central Government in the High Court at Calcutta and was also the Hony. Joint Secretary of the Bar Library Club of Calcutta High Court, till just prior to his elevation. On 22 June 2006, he was elevated as a permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court. Justice Somadder was appointed the Executive Chairman of the State Legal Services Authority of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

on 5 November 2018. Appointed Judge-in-Charge, Administrative Department, High Court at Calcutta, to discharge the functions assigned under the Appellate Side Rules of the High Court at Calcutta, with effect from 19 November 2018. He became the Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court from 1 January 2019 and retained the post till 3 April 2019. He assumed charge as Judge of the Allahabad High Court on 17 October 2019. On 23 April 2020, he was appointed the Chief Justice of

and took oath on 27 April 2020. He was transferred as Chief Justice of

on 9 October 2021 and took oath on 12 October 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somadder, Biswanath 1963 births Living people Indian judges Judges of the Calcutta High Court 21st-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian lawyers University of Calcutta alumni Indian Senior Counsel Judges of the Allahabad High Court Judges of the Meghalaya High Court