Bira Kishore Ray

Bira Kishore Ray (21 October 1891 – 26 July 1958) was an Indian judge who was the first Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.^[1][2]

Hon'ble Chief Justice (Retd.) Bira Kishore Ray
1st Chief Justice of Orissa High Court
In office 26 July 1948 – 30 October 1951
Appointed by	C. Rajagopalachari
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	B. Jagannadha Das
Judge of Patna High Court
In office 23 July 1945 – 25 July 1948
Appointed by	Lord Wavell
1st Advocate General of Odisha
In office 1937–1945
Preceded by	Position established
Personal details
Born	(1891-10-21)21 October 1891 Cuttack district, Bagalgarh village
Died	26 July 1958(1958-07-26) (aged 66)
Children	Sukanta Kishore Ray
Alma mater	Ravenshaw college, University of Calcutta

Early life and career

Bira Kishore Ray was born on 21 October 1891 in an aristocratic landholding Karan family at Bagalgarh village of Niali, Cuttack district.^[3][4] He was educated in Ravenshaw college and later obtained a degree in law from the University of Calcutta.

On April 1, 1936, Orissa was made a separate province but no separate High Court was provided for it. Bira Kishore assumed the role of the first Advocate General of Orissa Province in 1937 during the tenure of Prime Minister Krushna Chandra Gajapati of Paralakhemundi.

On July 26, 1938, the High Court Bar Association at Cuttack adopted a Resolution demanding a separate High Court for Orissa and on February 11, 1939, a Resolution was moved in the Legislative Assembly situated at Cuttack requesting the Government to constitute a committee to examine the question of establishing a separate High Court in Orissa. Following this action by the Odisha legislature a resolution was passed on August 19, 1942 by the Law Department of the Government of Odisha where Bira was made Chairman of the Orissa High Court Committee along with Rai Bahadur Chinta Mani Acharya,President of High Court Bar Association at Cuttack, Bichitrananda Das, and Advocate, D.N. Narasingha Rao Berhampur as Members and J.E. Maher, Superintendent and Remembrancer of Legal Affairs, Odisha as the Secretary during the second tenure of Prime Minister Krushna Chandra Gajapati under the Governorship of Sir Hawthorne Lewis.^[5][6][7]

Later he was elevated to the Bench of Patna High Court in 1945.^[8][9][10] He was also the first Odia to become the Judge of Patna High Court.^[11]

On July 26, 1948, Orissa High Court with Bira Kishore Ray as the Chief Justice and B. Jagannadha Das, Lingaraj Panigrahi and Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasingham as Puisne Judges was inaugurated by H.J.Kania, the then Chief Justice of the Federal Court of India and practice of holding Circuit Court at Cuttack was discontinued. To mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of High Court of Orissa a commemorative stamp and first day cover and information brochure published by the India Post.^[12]

Bira Kishore Ray was married to Latika. He died on 26 July 1958, the 10th anniversary of the Orissa High Court.^[13] He was also the editor of a short-lived English language newspaper called the Orissa Times and was associated with the Orissa state formation movement and would be a host to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during his visits to Cuttack.^[14][15][16]

His son Sukanta Kishore Ray also served as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.