Sheriff of Mumbai

The Sheriff of Mumbai is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Mumbai. The last Sheriff of Mumbai appointed was Dr. Mrs. Indu Shahani, principal of H. R. College, 2008.

The Sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the orders of the High Court for summoning people, and also for attachment and sealing of properties and if ordered for their auction. The Sheriff has an office and staff but does not have any executive powers. The Sheriff office is in Bombay High Court, Fort on the Ground Floor. In the order of precedence, the Sheriff ranks just below the Mayor. Mumbai and Kolkata (Calcutta) are the only cities in India to maintain this post.

The most important social function of the Sheriff is to receive foreign dignitaries at the airport on behalf of the city and to call condolence meetings on the demise of prominent citizens of the city.

The first Sheriff of Mumbai after independence was Mahadeo Laxman Dahanukar, a city businessman in 1948. His son, Shantaram Mahadeo Dahanukar was also a Sheriff of Mumbai in 1969.

The Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences and is in charge of receiving foreign guests of the government. The post gives the incumbent close access to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the Municipal Commissioner of the city. It is often criticised by citizens as a waste of public money. As the post is apolitical, many prominent citizens use it as a platform to showcase their achievements and serve the citizens of the metropolis.

Former Sheriffs

Former Sheriffs include:

S. No. Name Term Known for
1 Bhau Daji 1869 Physician, Educationalist
2 Bhau Daji 1871 Physician, Educationalist
3 Adamjee Peerbhoy 1898 Businessman
4 Fazal I Rahimtoola 1928 Politician
5 Mithan Jamshed Lam 1947 Lawyer
6 M. L. Dahanukar 1948 Businessman
7 Joachim Alva 1949 Lawyer, journalist and politician
8 Anandilal Podar 1952
9 Khwaja Abdul Hamied 1953 Scientist, Industrialist
10 Abasaheb Garware 1959 Industrialist, Founder Chairman of the Garware Group
11 Frank Moraes 1962 Journalist
12 H. H. Ismail 1967 Diplomat and Consul General (DR)
13 Shantaram M. Dahanukar 1969
14 Leela Moolgaokar[1] 1975, 1976 Social Worker
15 Dilip Kumar 1980 Film actor and Social Worker
16 B. K. Goyal 1981 Cardiologist
17 Sunil Dutt 1982 Actor
18 Sadruddin Daya 1987 Businessperson
19 Trimbak Krishna Tope[2] 1988 Former Principal (GLC), Former Vice-Chancellor (Mumbai University), Constitutional Expert
20 Jehangir Nicholson 1988
22 Nana Chudasama 1989, 1990 Social activist
23 Homi Sethna 1991 Ex-Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India
24 Fakhruddin T. Khorakiwala 1993 Businessman
25 I.M. Kadri 1994 Architect
26 Sunil Gavaskar 1995 Cricketer
27 Subir Kumar Choudhury 1996 Businessman
28 Usha Kiran 1997[3] Actress
29 Sr. Kulwant Singh Kohli 1998
30 Chandrakant Bakshi 1999 Writer
31 Dr.Augustine Francis Pinto 2000 Chairman,Ryan Group Of Institutions
32 Kiran Shantaram 2002, 2003 Filmmaker
33 Jagannathrao Hegde 2004[4] Dentist
34 Vijaypat Singhania 2006 Businessman
35 Indu Shahani 2008 Academic
36 Satish Chitgopekar 2016 Academic

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.