Calcutta High Court Bar Library unveils portrait of former Law Minister Ashoke Kumar Sen

The portrait of former Union Law Minister and Senior Advocate Ashoke Kumar Sen was recently unveiled at the Calcutta High Court Bar Library Club..The portrait was unveiled by Calcutta High Chief Justice RV Ghuge on September 11 in the presence of members of the Bar and Sen's family.Speaking at the event, Senior Advocate Sanjiv Sen, Sen's grand-nephew, said the family was proud that the portrait had found a permanent place at the Bar Library. He noted that the institution was closely associated with Ashoke Kumar Sen's development as a lawyer.Sanjiv Sen described Ashoke Kumar Sen as one of the greatest lawyers to have practised before the Supreme Court, Calcutta High Court and other courts.He particularly recalled Sen's habit of reading extensively and keeping himself updated with developments in law across jurisdictions."He has been an inextricable part of our constitutional and legal journey for more than four decades, from the 1950s to the 90s, both in the capacity of a lawmaker, thereby creating the law, as well as assisting the courts in shaping our jurisprudence," said Sanjiv Sen..Ashoke Kumar Sen was born in 1913 in Faridpur, now in Bangladesh. He studied at Presidency College, Calcutta and the London School of Economics before being called to the Bar at Gray's Inn. He began his career teaching law at City College, Calcutta and later practised at the Calcutta High Court. He also served as Junior Standing Counsel for the West Bengal government.He entered Parliament in 1957, representing Calcutta North West, and went on to serve several terms in the Lok Sabha before later being elected to the Rajya Sabha. He served as Union Law Minister under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from 1957 to 1966 and again under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi from 1984 to 1987. Sen remains the longest-serving Union Law Minister in India, having held the portfolio for more than a decade across two periods. He had also served as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and represented India at several international conferences on law and human rights..During the unveiling of his portrait at the Calcutta High Court Bar Library Club, his nephew Sanjiv Sen also recalled that former Chief Justice BB Sinha had offered Ashoke Sen a judgeship of the Supreme Court when he was 45. Ashoke Sen chose to continue at the Bar instead..Additionally, the address also focused on Sen's professional conduct. Sanjiv Sen said his grand-uncle was known for hearing opposing views without allowing disagreements to become personal. Sanjiv Sen said the portrait at the Calcutta High Court should serve as a reminder to young lawyers of Ashoke Sen's commitment to preparation, learning and dignity in professional disagreement.“Mr. Sen's legacy does not merely lie in statutes or speeches, but in making choices to prepare extensively and to the best of one's ability to argue against unfairly, to draft clearly and to treat one another with dignity even when we disagree,” he said..The Calcutta High Court event followed the unveiling of Sen's portrait at the Supreme Court Bar Association Library on July 29, 2026, by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.