Bijan Kumar Mukherjea ( bn, বিজন কুমার মুখার্জী; 15 August 1891 – 22 February 1956) was the 4th
Chief Justice of India
The chief justice of India (IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation w ...
. He was in his office from 22 December 1954 to 31 January 1956.
Avocation
Joined Calcutta Bar in 1914
Junior Govt. Pleader Calcutta High Court, 1934
Senior Govt. Pleader, Calcutta Court, 1936
Judge Calcutta High Court, November 1936 – 1948
Member Bengal Boundary Commission, 1947
Judge, Federal Court/Supreme Court 14 Oct. 1948-22 Dec.1954.
Chief Justice of India 1954-31 Jan 1956
On Patanjali Sastri's retirement in January 1954, Nehru had asked B.K. Mukherjea to take over as Chief Justice. However Mukherjea had declined, saying that Mehr Chand Mahajan was senior to him. When Nehru pressed him, the judge said he would sooner resign than usurp the highest office before his turn. Only after Mahajan retired did Mukherjea become CJI.
Education and academics
After completion of his education in
Hooghly Branch Government School
Hooghly Branch Government School (or Hooghly Branch (Govt) School), established in 1834, is one of the oldest schools in West Bengal. It is located in Chawk Bazar, Hooghly, within the area of Hooghly-Chinsurah Municipality.
The school is admini ...
, and Hooghly Mohasin College, Hooghly, West Bengal, he joined the
Surendranath Law College
Surendranath Law College (''Bengali'' :সুরেন্দ্রনাথ আইন কলেজ) formerly known as ''Ripon College'') is an postgraduate law college affiliated with the University of Calcutta. It was established in Kolkata in ...
under 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 ...
.
He was an M.A. (history), B.L. (gold medalist), M.L. (gold medalist), doctor of Law.
He was an Anauth Dev Research Prizeman, Tagore Law Lecturer (Calcutta University), and also a Saraswati (Sanskrit).
Personal life
Mukherjea was born to Rakhal Das Mukherjee and Sarat Kumari Devi. Rakhal Das had graduated from Duff College, Calcutta, to become a Vakil. Bijan grew up in his maternal home ("Rose Villa", Hooghly). He had a sister and a brilliant younger brother, Bipin (who died at the tender age of ten).
Married Labanyalata Devi and had a son Amiya Kumar Mookerji (who followed his father's vocation to become a judge of the Calcutta High Court), a granddaughter, Meera Ganguli (nee Mookerji), and a great grandson Anjan Ganguli.
Mukherjea had his ancestral house in Nabadwip, Dist. Nadia, West Bengal, and was a descendant of Krittibas Ojha (translator and adapter of the Bengali version of Valmiki's Ramayana).
Mukherjea was a disciple of Sri Sri Balananada Brahmachari of Deogharh, Jharkhand.
Memberships and association
Fellow of the Calcutta University
President of the Bengal Sanskrit Association
Associated with Scouts Movement in Bengal
Acted as District Commissioner, South Calcutta Boys Sc Association
Connected with Literary and Cultural Society Bibudha Janani Sava, Nabadwip, Gita Sava, Calcutta, St. Sahitya Parishad; Calcutta etc.
Publication
* ''Problems & Law''
* ''Hindu Law of Religious and Charitable Trusts''
References
External links
Biography at Supreme Court of India websiteMore extensive bio
at www.indiankanoon.org (in the appendix to his memory on the bottom of the page)
2. https://www.lawyersupdate.co.in/book-reviews-releases/a-judge-nonpareil-a-b-k-mukherjea-reader-v-sudhish-pai/
1891 births
1956 deaths
20th-century Indian judges
Judges of the Calcutta High Court
Chief justices of India
University of Calcutta alumni
Surendranath Law College alumni
Academic staff of the University of Calcutta
20th-century Indian lawyers
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