Debesh Chandra Bhattacharya (3 November 1914 2 February 2004) was a Bangladeshi jurist who served at
Bangladesh High Court
The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, হাইকোর্ট ডিভিশন) popularly known as the 'High Court' is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate D ...
and later at the Appellate Division of
Bangladesh Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সুপ্রীম কোর্ট) is the highest court of law in Bangladesh. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division, and was created by Part VI C ...
.
Early life
Bhattacharya was born on 3 November 1914 in Ellenga,
Tangail District
Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল জেলা) formerly a small Mohokuma of Greater Mymensingh district is a district (''zila'') in the central region of Bangladesh. In 1969, Tangail district was created by Tangail Mohokuma from its 237 s ...
,
East Bengal
ur,
, common_name = East Bengal
, status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan
, p1 = Bengal Presidency
, flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg
, s1 = Eas ...
, British India.
He studied at the Ellenga Junior High School and graduated from
Bindu Basini Govt. Boys' High School in 1931.
He completed his Indian School Certificate in 1933 and bachelors in 1935 from
Presidency University, Kolkata
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 affilia ...
.
In 1938, he finished his law degree from the Department of Law, University of Calcutta.
In 1940, he completed his master's in economics from the University of Calcutta.
Career
Bhattacharya joined the
Mymensingh District
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of N ...
bar in 1941.
From 1949 to 1951, he was detained for supporting workers and farmers movements.
After his release he started practicing at the Dhaka High Court.
In 1956, Bhattacharya became a lawyer of the Supreme Court and became a senior advocate in 1961.
He joined the Bar Council.
He served in the Rule Committee of the Dhaka High Court till the Independence of Bangladesh in 1971 when the court became the High Court Division.
On 21 January 1972, Bhattacharya was appointed a Judge of the High Court Division and in June 1975 he was promoted to the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.
He retired from the bench in 1977 after President
Ziaur Rahman
Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military Officer (armed forces), officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from Presidency of Ziaur Rahman, 1977 to 1981. He was Assassinat ...
reduced the retirement age of judges from 65 to 62.
Bhattacharya was the founding president of Bangladesh Enemy Property Act Repeal Committee and was involved in the creation of
Gono Adalat
Gono Adalat (people's court) was a mock trial held to Bangladesh of those responsible for the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide. It was not an official trial and did not have any legal basis but was widely popular. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party led gover ...
.
He was a member of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Bangladesh Peace Council, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, Bangladesh Nagarik Committee, and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee.
He was the president of Aleem-Al-Razi Law College which was named after
Aleem al-Razee and
Gandhi Ashram Trust
The Gandhi Ashram Trust (GAT), also called the Ambika-Kaliganga Charitable Trust, is a philanthropic and development organization working in Noakhali since 1946 with Gandhian philosophy of rural development.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's visit in ...
.
Death
Bhattacharya died on 2 February 2004.
Personal life
Bhattacharya was married to
Chitra Bhattacharya
Chitra Bhattacharya (1926November 29, 2010) was a member of parliament of Bangladesh Jatya Sangsad. She was appointed from Tangail for the seat reserved for women in 1996 as an Awami League candidate.
Early life and career
Bhattacharya was bo ...
. Chitra (1926-2010) was elected as a member of parliament from Tangail's reserved seat for women in 1996 on a nomination of
Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for ''Awam
Awam ( ur, ) is the Urdu language word for common people or general public. In the early 20th century, the word was extensively used in the Indian subcontinent to refer to the general po ...
.
They had two sons, economist
Debapriya Bhattacharya
Debapriya Bhattacharya is an economist and public policy analyst from Bangladesh. He was the first executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka. He also worked as a senior research fellow at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studie ...
and physicist Debadarshi Bhattacharya, and one daughter Debalina Roy.
References
1914 births
2004 deaths
Bengali Hindus
Bangladeshi Hindus
People from Tangail District
Bangladeshi judges
University of Calcutta alumni
{{Bangladesh-law-bio-stub