SURENDRANATH LAW COLLEGE

Surendranath Banerjea needs no introduction as a great patriot, political leader, orator, teacher, educationist, journalist. He is one of the most eminent personalities in the history of India. He was the founder of this prestigious inst ndia. He was the founder of this prestigious institution and his noble idea of bringing higher education within the reach of the widest possible sections of the society remains the guiding motto of the college. In 1882, the Presidency School, which formed the nucleus of the present Institution, was handed over to Sir Surendranath Banerjea on 1st January 1884. He raised it to the status of a college affiliated to the F.A. standard and named it “THE PRESIDENCY INSTITUTION”. Within a year the institution was converted into a full fledged, first grade college under the name “RIPON COLLEGE”. Its activity was further extended through the opening of the Post-Graduate Department of Law in 1884, which was later affiliated to the Calcutta University in the year 1885, as an independent professional college. Since then, as long as he lived, Sir Surendranath not only remained at the helm of affairs, but was also active as a teacher, in the college. Sir Surendranath attached the name of Lord Ripon to his Institution as a tribute to the enlightened policies of the Viceroy. But after the attainment of independence, the golden cause to which Sir Surendranath dedicated his entire life, the name of the college was altered to Surendranath College. This was done to commemorate Sir Surendranath who had established this pioneering institution and nurtured it with utmost love and dedication. This esteemed Law College is now regarded as one of the oldest law colleges of the country. The students of the College include Dr. Rajendra Prosad, the first president of India, Harendra Kumar Mukherjee, the first Governor of West Bengal, Justice Bijan Kumar Mukherjee, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and many other luminaries and eminent personalities. ‘Rastraguru’ Surendranath Banerjea founded this college in the heart of the city close to the Sealdah Station - considering the convenience of commuting and to encourage more students to partake of quality education, especially for those who belonged to the downtrodden community . The former address of the college was 60, Mirzapur Street. The present address is 24/2, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Calcutta – 700 009. Surendranath Banerjea was the absolute owner of Ripon College(now Surendranath College) and Ripon Law College including the Collegiate School up to 1908. With the aim of placing the Ripon Group of Institutions on a permanent footing and affiliating them to public institutions, Surendranath Banerjea, the proprietor, thought it desirable to divest himself of all private rights of property that he had over the said institutions and vesting them with a Public Charitable Trust in the year 1909. The signatories of the Trust deed were all notable personalities and educationists. The first signatory was Surendranath Banerjea and the rest were ---- 1.Satyendra Nath Mukherjee 2.Upendra Nath Mukherjee 3.Jogesh Chandra Choudhury 4.Rashbehari Ghosh 5.Ashutosh Chaudhuri 6.Baikuntanath Sen 7.Baron Sinha of Raipur 8.Bhupendranath Basu 9.Ramendra Sundar Trivedi After 1948, at instance of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the High Court at Calcutta, the Ripon Group of Institutions was renamed after Rashtraguru Surendranath Banerjea. Both in the pre-independence and post-independence era, Surendranath Law College always responded to the demand of the time and society in all its earnestness. During the Partition Movement in 1905 and 1942, many teachers and students actively protested against the wrongful act of partition and did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the noble cause. Many students were arrested by the British Police from Ripon Hostel attached to the college. In fact, the sense of nationalism and patriotism were genuinely inculcated amongst the students by their teachers. In the field of academic performance, including university examinations, students from this college have performed brilliantly and have secured gold medals in their respective course of study. ...view more