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Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Ravindra V Ghuge, on Friday, unveiled the portrait of former Union Law Minister and Senior Advocate Ashoke Kumar Sen at the Calcutta High Court Bar Library Club. 

Late Ashoke Kumar Sen served as the longest-serving Law Minister of the country, holding the post between the terms of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and also held the Communications and Steel and Mines portfolio during his career. He also served as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and earned glowing praises from legal stalwarts such as Nani A Palkhiwala and Fali S Nariman. 

The session was presided over by the Chief Justice, along with Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, and the President and Secretary of the Bar Library Club.

Speaking at the unveiling, Justice Ghuge stated, "Everybody knows his achievements, the nation has seen...a doyen of the bar. As was said earlier, in the words of Nani Palkhiwala, it will take us ten lifetimes to know what Ashoke Sen knows. A sentence of such magnitude, coming from none other than the great Nani Palkhiwala...it would be a great testimonial for the late Ashoke Kumar Sen...the court has stood here since 1862, but this Club of readers, researchers and wisemen is 200 years old...I am so fortunate to be here to inaugurate the potrait of Late AK Sen...I salute him, I bow to his soul...these potraits here will be watching us...these gentlemen through their potraits are watching us to see how we work and how we fare...i congratulate the family."

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty described Sen as "a legend of the bar." "He enlarged our collective horizons, carrying the tradition of the Calcutta Bar all over the country. Within just 5 years of practise he established himself as a leading practitioner of the Calcutta Bar. Notably, public service ran deep in his family, his elder brother Sukumar Sen, served as the first Chief Election Commissioner of independent India. Elected from Calcutta in 1947, he became the Union Law Minister. He holds the record as India's longest serving Law Minister. At the age of 27, Prime Ministers relied on him. He represented corporations and governments like he represented the common person, many of whom could not afford a lawyer of his seniorty. One of his most famous courtroom trials involved representing Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975...we are placing his face back on the room which nurtured his early days..." he added.

Senior Advocate and Barrister, Jayanta Mitra remembered Sen as a Senior at the Bar, with whom he had appeared in a few matters, and recollected anecdotes on Sen shared by Late Senior Advocate and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee. Mitra recollected how Sen was involved in the drafting of laws such as the Dowry Prohibition Act, Advocate's Act, as well as the Anti Defection Law, amidst many others. Mitra emphasised that Sen deserved not only a potrait in the Bar Library Club, but also a bust in the corridors of the court. 

Sanjiv Sen, grandnephew of Late AK Sen, and Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, stated, "It is a matter of great honor and pride for my family that the potrait of my grand uncle shall find a permanent place at the Calcutta HC Bar Library Club...that was so integral to the towering national figure he became. He is regarded as one of the greatest lawyers to have walked the corridors of the SC and HCs. The habit of reading was very dear to him..."

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