Sudhi Ranjan Das

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Sudhi Ranjan Das
Sudhi Ranjan Das, Chief Justice of India
5th Chief Justice of India
In office 1 February 1956 – 30 September 1959
Appointed by	Rajendra Prasad
Preceded by	Bijan Kumar Mukherjea
Succeeded by	B. P. Sinha
Personal details
Born	(1894-10-01)1 October 1894 Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India[1]
Died	18 September 1977(1977-09-18) (aged 82)
Alma mater	University of Calcutta University College London Patha Bhavana

Sudhi Ranjan Das (1 October 1894 – 18 September 1977) was the 5th Chief Justice of India, serving from 1 February 1956 to 30 September 1959. Das also served as chairman of The Statesman.^[2]

S.R. Das was born in Calcutta^[1] into the prominent Baidya Brahmin Das family (originally Dasgupta) of Telirbagh. He was born to Rakhal Chandra Das and Binodini Das.

He attended Patha Bhavana, Santiniketan, where he was one of the first four pupils of Rabindranath Tagore.^[2] After finishing his intermediate examinations at the Scottish Church College, he moved on to the Bangabasi College which was affiliated to the University of Calcutta from which he graduated. He later studied law at University College London and was awarded first-class honours LL.B. from University of London in 1918.

He was called to the Bar in 1918 at Gray's Inn, London.^[2][3]

He was elevated to the Bench as an Additional Judge of Calcutta High Court in 1942. He became a Puisne Judge, Calcutta High Court in 1944.

He served as the Chief Justice of Punjab High Court from 1949 to 1950.

He was appointed to the Federal Court/Supreme Court of India in 1950 days before the commencement of the new Constitution. He officiated twice as Acting Chief Justice of India before holding the highest Judicial office of the country- Chief Justice of India for over three years. He retired on 30 September 1959.

Over the course of his career on the Supreme Court, Das authored 160 judgments and sat on 560 benches.^[4] During Das's tenure as Chief Justice, the Supreme Court grew from eight to eleven judges. Six of the ten judges that Das appointed to the Court would eventually serve as Chief Justice.^[5]

Sudhi Ranjan Das was married to the former Swapna Majumdar, the daughter of S.B. Majumdar, an ICS officer. By his wife, he had two sons, Group Captain Suranjan Das and Suhrid Ranjan Das, and a daughter, Anjana. His daughter married his junior counsel Ashoke Sen, who later became Union Law Minister. His children were all named by Rabindranath Tagore.

Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Sarala Roy, Abhla Bose and Satish Ranjan Das are his cousins.

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The bungalow at 1, Safdurjung Road used by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as her residence was priorly inhabited by Chief Justice S.R. Das. This bungalow witnessed the assassination of the PM Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1984. It is now a museum.