Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha

Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha of Raipur (24 March 1863 – 5 March 1928) was a prominent lawyer and statesman in British India. He was of Indian ancestry, and set many "first"s:

Controversy over succession

When the first Baron Sinha died in 1928, he ought to have been succeeded in his title by his first son, Aroon Kumar Sinha. However, Aroon Sinha had been born at a time when there was no system of registration of births and marriages in India, so he was unable to prove his claim to the title to the satisfaction of the House of Lords.

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In 1936, Aroon Sinha presented petition for a Writ of Summons to Parliament, but objections were raised that Aroon's father was a Hindu (and so could have lawfully taken more than one wife, although in fact he had not) and so Aroon was the offspring of a "potentially polygamous marriage", and that Aroon, as an Indian, was not entitled to inherit the title. The petition which was referred to the Committee for Privileges on 27 June 1938, and a Commission was appointed to take evidence in Calcutta. Ultimately, on 25 July 1939, the Viscount Maugham in the Committee for Privileges decided that Aroon had made good his claim.

Related Topics:
Writ of Summons - Parliament - Committee for Privileges - 27 June - 1938 - 25 July - 1939 - The Viscount Maugham

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More controversy followed in the 1950s, when Lord Sinha was refused a British passport: eventually, he was issued a passport in 1955 which described him as a British subject.

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