Sudhi Ranjan Das

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.

Background and education S.R. Das was born in Calcutta

Judicial career 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. 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.

As Chief Justice of India, he administered the oath of office to 1st President of India Rajendra Prasad when he was elected as President for a second term after the 1957 Indian presidential election.

Family life Sudhi Ranjan Das was married to 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.

1, Safdurjung Road

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.