B. N. Rau

Sir B. N. Rau
Rau on 1988 stamp of India
Judge of the International Court of Justice
In office 1952–1954
Preceded by	Charles de Visscher
Succeeded by	Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
President of the United Nations Security Council
In office June 1950
Minister of Jammu & Kashmir
In office 1944–1945
Preceded by	Kailash Nath Haksar
Succeeded by	Ram Chandra Kak
Personal details
Born	(1887-02-26)26 February 1887 Mangalore, British Raj (Now Karnataka)
Died	30 November 1953(1953-11-30) (aged 66) Zürich, Switzerland
Occupation	Civil servant Jurist Drafted Constitution of India Constitutional scholar
Known for	Key Person of Drafting committee

Sir Benegal Narsing Rau CIE (26 February 1887 – 30 November 1953) was an Indian civil servant, jurist, diplomat and statesman known for his key role in drafting the Constitution of India as the Constitutional Advisor to Constituent Assembly. He was also India's representative to the United Nations Security Council from 1950 to 1952. His brothers were Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Benegal Rama Rau and journalist and politician B. Shiva Rao.

One of the foremost Indian jurists of his time, Rau helped draft the constitutions of Burma in 1947 and India in 1950. He was the constitutional advisor of the constituent assembly of India. As India's representative on the United Nations Security Council (1950–52), he was serving as president of the council when it recommended armed assistance to South Korea (June 1950). Later he was a member of the Korean War post Armistice United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC).

A graduate of the Universities of Madras and Cambridge, Rau entered the Indian civil service in 1910. After revising the entire Indian statutory code (1935–37), he was knighted (1938) and made judge (1939) of the Bengal High Court at Calcutta (Kolkata). His writings on Indian law include a noted study on constitutional precedents as well as articles on human rights in India. He served briefly (1944–45) as Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state. From February 1952 until his death, he was a judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Before his election to the court, he was regarded as a candidate for secretary-general of the United Nations.^[1]