Veteran scholar DN Banerjee passes away

Dhruba Narayan Banerjee, popularly known as DN Banerjee, scholar and an expert of Municipal laws, died at his residence on Wednesday.

He was 85 and is left by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Born in 1931 at Narayangunj, now in Bangladesh, he studied at Presidency College. His classmates included Rathin Sengupta, former chief secretary and historians Shipra Sarkar and Jayati Sengupta.

A cadre of higher judicial service, he opted for state administrative service and retired as the secretary of Local Government Urban Development. He was the secretary of West Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1972 and 1976 and was the administrator of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

After retirement, he became a fellow of Nehru Memorial Museum in Delhi and wrote a book A treatise on Mahatma Gandhi.

The foreward of the book was written by former President KR Narayanan. “Bikshan Boichitrye Rabindranath”, penned by him throws new light on Tagore.

He authored many books on Municipal laws and was the key person behind the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act (1980).

He opened a new course on Valuation in Gujarat University and functioned as head of the department for some time.

He was the all India secretary of Harijan Sevak Sangha and worked with Nirmala Despande, who was its president.

Banerjee will be remembered by his friends, colleagues and acquaintances for his zest for life, integrity 

and uprightness.