Kolkata: Celebrated Bengali writer Mani Sankar Mukherji, better known as ‘Sankar’, has been appointed the new Sheriff of Kolkata. He replaces physician Sanjay Chatterjee.
One of the oldest positions in the country since the 18th century, the Governor of West Bengal appoints the Sheriff of Kolkata on the recommendation of Calcutta High Court.
In 1775 James MacRabey was appointed the Sheriff of (then) Calcutta when Sir Elijah Impey took over as the Chief Justice of Supreme Court in Calcutta. Almost six decades ago Mani Sankar Mukherji began working as a Barrister’s Babu (clerk) of Noel Barwell, the last British Barrister practising in Calcutta High court.
His first book “Kata Ajanarey”, written in the backdrop of the Law Court began shortly after Barwell’s demise in 1953 following a heart attack in Madras while arguing a case in the then Madras. “Kata Ajanarey” has, over the years, emerged as a classic in Bengali literature.
Born in Bongaon in 1933, Sankar’s father, a lawyer, moved to Calcutta in 1937 and settled in Howrah. Some of Sankar’s well-known creations include “Chowringhee”, “Jana Aranyaa”, “Company Limited”, “Thackeray Mansion”, “The Monk as Man”, and “The Unknown Life of Swami Vivekananda”.
Two of his novels, “Seemabaddha” (Company Limited) and ‘Jana Aranya’ (The Middleman), were turned into films by Satyajit Ray.