Calcutta HC former judge Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee dies

KOLKATA: Justice (Retd) Bhagabati Prosad Banerjee, who as Calcutta High Court judge had fixed decibel level for use of loudspeakers and crackers in an historic order, died in a hospital here today.

"He died at 1.20 AM today in a private hospital here," Anupurba, elder daughter-in-law of Banerjee, said.

Banerjee was suffering from dengue and chest infection and was admitted to the hospital on Monday where he died of cardiac arrest.

He is survived by two sons and a daughter.

In a landmark judgement in 1996, Banerjee had set a 90 decibel limit for loudpseakers and crackers to control sound pollution that reached alarming levels mainly during festivals like Diwali and Durga Puja.

Banerjee's house in Salt Lake had been auctioned in February 2006 on an order by the Supreme Court over allotment of plots in the upmarket township by West Bengal Government, of which he was a beneficiary.

Banerjee was born on August 15, 1937.

Designated as senior advocate in 1981, he was elevated to the Bench in Calcutta High Court in 1984.