• Source: Subhro Kamal Mukherjee

      • Justice 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 in September 2023. In July 2023, the Governor of West Bengal appointed him as the interim Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University.


      Background


      Mukherjee comes from a family of lawyers and is a sixth-generation lawyer. He completed his Master of Arts in history and LLB from Calcutta University. He joined the Calcutta High Court as an advocate in 1982 practicing mainly in civil 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, 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, Vajubhai Vala.


      Controversies


      In 2017, the Bar Council of Karnataka sought action against Mukherjee after he commented that Tipu Sultan 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 West Bengal education minister, Bratya Basu, 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 and Students' Federation of India 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

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