Subhro Kamal Mukherjee (born 10 October 1955) is a former chief justice of the High Court of Karnataka. He was appointed as the interim Vice-Chancellor of

Presidency University, Kolkata Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leadi ...

in September 2023. In July 2023, the

Governor of West Bengal The Governor of West Bengal is the nominal head of the Indian state of West Bengal. The governor is appointed by the president of India. C. V. Ananda Bose is the incumbent governor, having taken office on 18 November 2022. History In 1911 the ...

appointed him as the interim Vice-Chancellor of

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on 8 May 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. I ...

Background

Mukherjee comes from a family of lawyers and is a sixth-generation lawyer. He completed his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in history and

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Calcutta University 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 ...

. He joined the

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located at Esplanade Row West, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. T ...

as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

in 1982 practising mainly in

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

and writ matters.

Judicial career

Mukherjee was appointed a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court on 15 September 2000. He was transferred to Karnataka High Court on 15 April 2015. Upon transfer of the then chief justice, Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela, to

Odisha High Court The Orissa High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Odisha. The then Bengal Presidency was a vast province including present day Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. It was difficult to administratively manage such a ...

, he was appointed the acting chief justice of Karnataka High Court on 1 June 2015. He took the oath as the chief justice on 23 February 2016. His oath was administered by the governor of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Vajubhai Vala Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala (born 23 January 1937) is an Indian statesman who was the 12th Governor of Karnataka from 1 September 2014 to 6 July 2021. He is also the longest-serving governor for Karnataka after Khurshed Alam Khan. Vajubhai served ...

Controversies

In 2017, the

Bar Council of Karnataka Bar Council of Karnataka is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of Karnataka. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In Marc ...

sought action against Mukherjee after he commented that

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

was not a freedom fighter, but a monarch who fought to safeguard his interests. On his retirement as chief justice, he was not accorded the customary farewell following a resolution passed by the Karnataka State Bar Council. Mukherjee's appointment by Governor C. V. Ananda Bose as the acting Vice-Chancellor of both Rabindra Bharati University and Presidency University took place amidst centre-state tensions between the governor and the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

. The West Bengal education minister,

Bratya Basu Bratyabrata Basu Roy Chowdhury (born 25 September 1969),Bratya Basu(collected plays), Ananda Publishers, 2004 also known as Bratya Basu, is an Indian actor, stage director, playwright, film director, professor and politician who has been the Ed ...

, said, "The Governor's recent action is aimed at bankrupting the higher education system. He is destroying the statutes of respective state universities. Such appointments have been made without consulting anybody. He is acting in a dictatorial manner." In August 2023, Mukherjee stopped going to his office in Rabindra Bharati University "out of fear" after a section of staff members accused him of consuming alcohol inside his office. Mukherjee denied the allegation and claimed that it was he who was abused by the staff members of the university. In September 2023, the student organisations

Independents' Consolidation Independents' Consolidation (IC) is a student organization based in Presidency University, Kolkata. It was formed in the erstwhile Presidency College and has won all but five student union elections since its formation in 1989. It describes itsel ...

and

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (SFI) is a left-wing student organization in India that upholds ideology of independence, democracy, and socialism. History The origin of Indian students movement in its organised form can be traced to th ...

expressed scepticism over Mukherjee's appointment as acting VC of Presidency University. The student bodies alleged interference by the union government in university appointments and raised questions over his lack of academic qualifications to head a university.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Subhro Kamal 21st-century Indian judges Living people 1955 births Chief justices of the Karnataka High Court People from New Alipore Academic staff of Rabindra Bharati University