Bijan Kumar Mukherjea (Bengali: বিজন কুমার মুখার্জী; 15 August 1891 – 22 February 1956[1]) was the 4th Chief Justice of India. 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 declined, saying that Mehr Chand Mahajan was his senior. 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.[2] His time as CJI ended prematurely as he suffered from heart ailments that forced his retirement.[3]
Over the course of his tenure on the Supreme Court, Mukherjea authored 87 judgments.[4]
He had an M.A. (History) with a specialization in Ancient Indian History, a B.L. (Gold Medalist), an M.L. (Gold Medalist), and a Doctor of Law.
He was 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 Scottish Church College (also popularly called Duf's College), Calcutta, to become a Vakil. Bijan grew up in his maternal home ("Rose Villa", Hooghly District, West Bengal, India). He had an elder sister (Sheila) and a younger brother, Bipin, who died at the age of ten.
Married Labanyalata Devi and had a son Amiya Kumar Mookerji. Labanya died when Amiya was barely two. Amiya studied at St. Paul's School, Kolkata and Scottish Church College, Kolkata. He followed his father's vocation to become a judge of the Calcutta High Court, although he refused the position of Supreme court judge because of health issues. Bijan Kumar's granddaughter, Meera Ganguli (née Mookerji) died in 2022. Mukherjea was survived by his great-grandson Anjan Ganguli and great-granddaughter in law, Reena Kohli Ganguli.
Mukherjea has his ancestral house in Mukherjee Lodge, at Judge Para, Jognath Tala, Ishan Banerjee Lane, Nabadwip, Dist. Nadia, West Bengal, and is a descendant of Krittibas Ojha (the translator and adapter of the first Bengali version of Valmiki's Ramayana) and a first cousin of Prangopal Mukherjee, whose son, Govinda Gopal Mukherjee, became a professor and researcher in philosophy and Sanskrit studies, and a singer of devotional songs in Bengali and Sanskrit.
B. K. Mukherjea and his cousin Prangopal Mukerjee were both disciples of Sri Sri Balananda Brahmachari of Deogharh, Jharkhand, and often visited Balanandaji's Tapovan Ashram at Deogharh.
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.
