Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee (1895–1971/72) was an Indian politician & jurist who served as a judge at the Calcutta High Court & Also was an elected member of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from Bengal. He served as the vice president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and treasurer of the Bar Association of India. He had also served as a president of the All India Civil Liberties Council, and as vice president of the International Commission of Jurists – Indian Branch.Chatterjee, Nirmal Chandra
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Early life and education

He was born on 19 October 1895 in Boinchee, in the Hooghly district to Bholanath Chatterjee. He was educated at the South Suburban School, the Mitra Institution, St. Mary's School, all in Calcutta, before graduating from the Scottish Church College. Subsequently, he studied law at the Hazra Law College of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, before proceeding on to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, London, and subsequently finishing his academic pursuit at the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

He started out as a senior advocate in the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

. He went on to be a judge at the Calcutta High Court. Later he became the vice president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and treasurer of the

Bar Council of India Bar Council of India (BCI) is a statutory body established under section 4 of the Advocates Act 1961 that regulates the legal practice and legal education in India. Its members are elected from amongst the lawyers in India and represent the In ...

. He had also served as a president of the All India Civil Liberties Council, and as vice president of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, and staffed by lawyers drawn from a wide range of jurisdi ...

– Indian Branch. He was the President of Bengal Hindu Mahasabha & the Vice President of All India Hindu Mahasabha. He presided over its Gwalior session in 1947. But after partition and assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, he was somewhat disenchanted with party politics. Towards the end of 1947 and early 1948, he felt ill quite frequently and months could not attend his professional work. Doctors advised him that because of the serious attack of epidemic dropsy, he would not be able to lead an active life anymore. At that time, he got an offer for appointment as a Judge of Calcutta High court and he agreed to accept. He was also a member of the Special Committee on Tibet of the International Commission of Jurists, and a chairman of the Subordinate Legislation Committee of Parliament. He represented India at the Commonwealth Law Conference held in London in 1955. He was a deputy leader of the Indian Lawyers Delegation to the USSR in 1959, and represented India at the International Bar Conference at

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

in Austria in 1960 and Commonwealth Law Conference held at Sydney in 1966. He was counsel for India at the Kutch International Tribunal in Geneva. He was a member of the 1st Lok Sabha (1952–1957) from Hooghly as a

Hindu Mahasabha Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (), simply known as Hindu Mahasabha, is a Hindu nationalism, Hindu nationalist political party in India. Founded in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating th ...

candidate and as an independent candidate for the 3rd Lok Sabha. He also won a bye-poll in 1963 as an independent from Burdwan with CPI support and also the 4th Lok Sabha (1967–1971) when he won again from Burdwan as an independent. He died in 1971.

Family

He married Binapani Devi on 30 May 1915, and later became the father of the Marxist leader, Parliamentarian Somnath Chatterjee, a communist leader from Bengal who served as the 14th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009.

Books written by him

*''Company Law'' *''Awakening of India'' *''Problems of Jammu and Kashmir'' *''Comparative Jurisprudence'' *''Indian Constitutional Law'' *''Fundamental Rights and Judicial Review'' *''Emergency and Law''

Other works

*Indian historical research council. *Monographs and articles on historical, legal and constitutional topics *Paper on 'Nationality' at International legal Conference in Delhi in January 1954 *Studies in history, political science, economics, Indology, comparative politics and international law and travelling *Social activities by helping depressed classes and Harijans, championing civil liberties and rule of law.

Sports and hobbies

*Gardening *President, Bhawanipur Club *Member, Chelmsford Club Delhi and Calcutta Club.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterjee, Nirmal Chandra 1895 births Hindu revivalists 20th-century Bengalis India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of University College London Year of death missing Hindu Mahasabha politicians People from Bardhaman People from Hooghly district Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws