On this day, Sir Elijah Impey was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal.
The Supreme Court was founded in 1774 by the Regulating Act of 1773. It replaced the Mayor’s Court of Calcutta and remained the highest court of British-ruled India from 1774 until 1862, when the High Court of Calcutta was established by the Indian High Courts Act 1861.
To work in India, Impey had learnt Bengali, Urdu and Persian. His wife Mary established a private zoo in Calcutta. She commissioned local artists to make drawings of the animals she collected.
Impey is most remembered for the 1775 trial of Maharaja Nandakumar, who was hanged. Impey was accused of colluding with Governor-General Warren Hastings and committing a judicial murder.
Impey and Hastings were both subjected to impeachment for their conduct in the case. In 1790, Impey returned to Parliament as the member for New Romney.
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