Bankim Chandra Ray

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Bankim Chandra Ray (born 1 November 1926) is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former politician. He was born into a wealthy zamindar family in Kanthalberia, 24 Parganas, West Bengal. He studied at Multi Peary Srimantha Institution in Magrahat, earned a BA from Ripon College in 1946, an LLB from University Law College in 1951, and an MA in Political Economy from the University of Calcutta.

Ray began practicing law at the Calcutta High Court in 1952. He became an Additional Judge of the Calcutta High Court in June 1976 and a permanent judge in December 1976. He was elevated to the Supreme Court of India in October 1985 and served there until October 1991, becoming the second Dalit judge to sit on the court after A. Vardarajan. He was nominated by P. N. Bhagwati and appointed by Zail Singh.

Ray was associated with the Indian National Congress since his college days and contested the 1957 West Bengal legislative assembly election from the Baruipur constituency, but lost to Gangadhar Naskar of the CPI.