Question

The first Indian appointed to the Viceroy’s Council as an Advocate General of Bengal was ___________.
A. Surendra Nath Banerjee
B. Satyendra Prassana Sinha
C. Raja Ram Mohan Roy
D. Madan Mohan Malviya

Answer 1

Hint: The Advocate-General was considered the senior law officer of the East India Company during the British rule. Sir John Day was the first advocate general of Bengal appointed in 1780.

Complete answer: Satyendra Prassana Sinha was born on 24 March 1863. He was a prominent lawyer as well as a statesman in British India. He was the first Governor of Bihar and Orissa. Apart from that, he was the first Indian Advocate-General of Bengal and the first Indian to become a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council. To add one more achievement in this list, he was also the first Indian to become a member of the British ministry. He is also designated as Satyendra Prasanna Sinha or Satyendra Prasad Sinha. He was a member of the Indian National Congress from 1896 to 1919. He rose to become the president of the Indian national congress in 1915 at the Bombay session. Satyendra Prassana died on 4 March 1928 at Berhampore.
Looking at the options given:
Option A- Surendra Nath Banerjee was the founder of the Indian National Association. This is not the correct answer.
Option B- Satyendra Prassana Sinha is the correct answer since he was the first Indian to be appointed an Advocate General of Bengal to Viceroy’s Council.
Option C- Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a social reformer who was also the founder of Brahmo Samaj. This is an incorrect answer.
Option D- Madan Mohan Malviya was the founding member of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. He even became the president of the congress four times. This is not the correct answer.

Therefore “B” is the correct answer.

Note: Satyendra Prasad Sinha donated for the construction of Sinha Sadan. It was in the same building where Oxford University conferred its honorary doctorate on the Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore.