Justice Umesh C Banerjee passes away

Justice Umesh C Banerjee former Supreme Court Judge today passed away at a private hospital here, following a brief illness, his family sources said.

Justice Banerjee (74) is survived by his son Amitesh.

Justice Banerjee was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on February one, 1998 and elevated to the Supreme Court Bench on December nine, 1998.

He retired on November 17, 2002.

Son of Late Nalin Chandra Banerjee, a very eminent criminal and constitutional lawyer, went to England for Bar Course after graduation from Scottish Church College, Kolkata.

He was called to the Bar from Inner Temple, London in December, 1964. He joined Calcutta Bar as a Barrister in early 1965 and in early January, 1984, he was elevated to the Bench.

Justice Banerjee, apart from being the Presiding Judge of the Environment Bench at the Calcutta High Court, was the Presiding Judge of the Principal Appellate Bench (Original Side) in the Calcutta High Court.

He was one of the founding Council Members of SAARC Law and was President, SAARC Law (India Chapter).

Justice Banerjee was also well known in the aviation industry of the country and chaired two courts of enquiry, ordered by the Central government - one with regard to Vayudoot Crash near Guwahati in 1989 and another Indian Airlines aircraft crash at Imphal in 1991.