Shankar takes oath as 245th Sheriff of city

Kolkata: Mani Sankar Mukherjee, a babu (court clerk) of Noel Fredrick Barwell, a barrister-at-law who used to visit the High Court everyday in the early 1950s, never thought that he will be sworn in as the city's 245th sheriff on Monday at Calcutta High Court.

The outgoing sheriff Dr Sanjoy Chatterjee administered the oath of office to the octogenarian writer, who is popularly known by his pen name Shankar.

Mukherjee came to fame because of his novel Koto Ajanare. Satyajit Ray had also made two films based on his novels Shimabaddha and Jana Aranya.

The post of 'Sheriff' was created for the city in 1775 and James Macrabey was the first to hold the chair. The first Indian appointed as "The Sheriff of Calcutta" was Manakjee Rustomjee in 1874, while the first Bengali to have adorned the post was Raja Digamber Mitter in 1875.

Mukherjee said on Monday: "It is a remarkable day in my life, making me feel very humble as the new Sheriff, as I pay my respects to all my predecessors who have been great sheriffs of a great city called Calcutta."