Behari Lal Gupta was a member of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

and a politician.

Early life and education

Gupta was born in

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 ...

into a Vaidya family. His parents were Chandrasekhar Gupta and Rajeshwari, who was the elder sister of Narendranath Sen, editor of the '' Indian Mirror'', the weekly journal of the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of th ...

. His early education was at

Hare School Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys sc ...

and

Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

. He then proceeded with his childhood friends

R.C. Dutt Romesh Chunder Dutt ( bn, রমেশচন্দ্র দত্ত; 13 August 1848 – 30 November 1909) was an Indian civil servant, economic historian, writer and translator of ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. Dutt is considered a nation ...

and

Surendranath Banerjee Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Nati ...

to England for higher studies. In England he joined

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

and eventually passed the Open Competitive Service Examinations to become the third Indian to join the

in 1869 coming out to India in 1871. He belonged to the famous batch of 1869 which produced four Indians in the Indian Civil Service, including R.C. Dutt, himself, Surendranath Banerjee and Sripad Babaji Thakur.J. N. Gupta, ''Life and Works of Romesh Chunder Dutt'', (1911); The first Indian to enter the Indian Civil Service was Satyendranath Tagore, the second eldest son of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, who joined the service in 1863, coming out to India in 1864. The batch of 1869 set new standards of excellence for other Indian students to perform well in the ICS, but Tagore's entry into the service six years earlier acted as an inspiration for future generations of Indian students who aspired to be members of the covenanted civil service. He held Degrees of Honour in Sanskrit and Persian. He was also called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Middle Temple on 6 June 1871. He was a member of the Brahmo Sammilan Samaj Brahmo Sammilan Samaj
/ref> in Bhowanipore, Calcutta.

Career

His career in the civil service was distinguished: he became the first Indian Chief Presidency Magistrate and Coroner of Calcutta in 1872, an appointment that sparked off a serious debate on the legitimacy of an Indian civilian being appointed to such a senior position in the British Indian administration, leading to the

Ilbert Bill The Ilbert Bill was a bill formally introduced on 9 February 1883 during the Viceroyship of the Marquess of Ripon, which was drafted by Sir Courtenay Peregine Ilbert, the legal member of the Council of the Governor-General of India. It concerned ...

controversy of 1883.Gupta, ''Life and Works of Romesh Chunder Dutt''; This matter was later taken up by Sir Courtney Ilbert, the Law Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, who in his famous Ilbert Bill report passed in 1883 recommended that Indian judges of a certain rank should be given considerable powers to try British subjects of the Crown settled or based in India. A hostile Anglo-Indian press and opinion challenged the recommendations leading to a fierce debate on the right of Indians to be appointed to such high judicial and administrative posts, leading eventually to the scaling down of the recommended powers of the Indian judges in 1884. He was also a District and Sessions Judge, Remembrancer and Superintendent of Legal Affairs, Bengal, Member, Bengal Legislative Council, and finally a Judge (''offtg.'') of the High Court of Calcutta from where he retired in 1907.

Post retirement

After retirement he was appointed as Law and Justice Member in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

in 1909 and then

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

in 1912. In 1914 he travelled with His Highness, Maharaja

Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal Gae ...

, Maharaja of Baroda to Europe. He was appointed CSI in the

1914 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1914 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were announced on 2 January 1914. Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross (GCB) ;Mil ...

Awards

*Durbar Medals (1903), (1912)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Behari Lal Gupta 1849 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian lawyers Administrators in the princely states of India Alumni of University College London Bengali people Companions of the Order of the Star of India Diwans of Baroda Indian barristers Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Politicians from Kolkata Presidency University, Kolkata alumni