Dr. ARUN PROSAD MUKHERJEE

Date of birth : 

Educational background : 

Family background : Wife Dr. Mukul Mukherjee was a Reader in Economics of Delhi University till Aug. 1996 when she took voluntary retirement; now engaged in research work and research supervision with the Women’s Studies Research Centre of Calcutta University and also assisting some NGOs in their work relating to gender studies.
Two sons : elder son Amitabha (IAS/1983) married to Ranjana (IAS/1983); they have two sons(16 and 12 yrs respectively). Amitabha and Ranjana are now with the World Bank in Washington DC. Younger son Sanjoy (IPS/1989) is married to Nayana (Lecturer in History in a college under Cal. Univ.); Sanjoy was an SP in the CBI for over four years and is now a Dy. Commissioner of Calcutta Police.

Professional background : Joined the Indian Police Service(IPS) in 1956. As the District Supdt. of Police of Darjeeling, dealt with the Naxalite(Maoist) movement when it started there in 1967 and thereafter as the Dy. Commr. of Police, Special Branch, Calcutta(1969-72). Later he functioned as the Inspector General of Police(HQ) and the IGP(Intelligence) in West Bengal(1983-87) and finally as the Director General of Police, WB(1990-91) till retirement w.e.f. 1 January 1992. 

Worked in the premier anti-corruption and economic offences investigating agency of India, namely, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at New Delhi for nearly ten years and that too in all three of its critical positions - first as the Deputy Inspector General(DIG) of the Delhi Metropolitan Branch and then as Dy. Director, Special Unit(i.e. its Anti-corruption Intelligence wing) from 1974 to 1980, dealing with a number of important and sensitive enquiries and investigations relating to corruption by the officers of the Govt. of India ministries/departments/Undertakings and also supervised investigations of cases of economic offences of certain categories. He was again inducted as CBI’s Addl. Director(number two position in the organisation) in Sept. 1987 and became its Director (1989-90). He was Special Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India from Jan-Aug. 1990. Represented India in a number of international meetings and conferences of the Interpol and also headed the Indian delegation to the General Assembly(annual session) of the Interpol at Lyon(France) in 1989. Dr. Mukherjee was a member of the Indian delegation in the Home Secretary-level meetings between India and Pakistan held at New Delhi and Islamabad during 1988-89.

He was the head of West Bengal's apex anti-corruption organisation as the Vigilance Commissioner (March 1993 to Aug. 1995) during which period quite a few significant changes were introduced, in the light of his CBI experience, to strengthen the intelligence, enquiry and investigative capabilities of the Commission.

Functioned as the Advisor-Consultant to the Union Home Minister from July 1996 to Jan.1998. During this period, Dr. Mukherjee brought to national focus the long-neglected issues of police reforms, electoral reforms and the politician-criminal-bureaucrat nexus with full support from the then Home Minister (late Indrajit Gupta) who chaired the Group of Ministers(GOM) on Electoral Reforms. 

Appointed as the Governor of Mizoram in Jan. 1998 and continued till 30 April 1998 when he demitted office on resignation on personal grounds. 

Special role in academic activities and social services : has been on the guest faculties of the Depts. of History, Political Science and Law of Calcutta and Jadavpur Universities, Netaji Institute for Asian Studies etc. He is now an Adjunct Professor of the WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (in an honorary capacity) and overseeing the University's project relating to formulation of an Economic Offences Code for India. He has also been working with and assisting various NGOs dealing with police/administrative/criminal justice and electoral reforms, tribal welfare, juvenile delinquency, drug abuse prevention, consumer and environment protection. During 2000-2003, he was the Co-ordinator of a South Asia Research Society (an NGO) project titled "Law enforcement reform and good governance at the grass-root level" under which two Police Stations were adopted in West Bengal (Bolpur P.S. in Birbhum district and Bidhannagar East P.S. in Salt Lake City of North 24-Parganas district). The project objectives of bringing about some basic changes in the working and living conditions of the police station staff, their style of functioning and their close interaction with the local community (especially with the school students and teachers) were largely accomplished and were greatly acclaimed as an innovative model at the lowest level of policing. 
He has the rare distinction among public servants of having been invited by the renowned Heidelberg University (Germany) to take a seminar in 1989 and the topic was “Scarcity and Crime: a case study from Bengal”, considered to be a pioneering study in academic circles then.

Major publication : "CRIME AND PUBLIC DISORDER IN COLONIAL BENGAL,1861-1912”,published in 1995. To be published shortly is the first volume of a contemporaneous document-based and authentic account by Dr. Mukherjee of the Naxalite/Maoist extremist movement (1967-72), titled "LESSONS OF NAXALBARI".