Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 7: Making a series of angry observations on the conduct of the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the Calcutta High Court judge Kaushik Chanda exited a case involving her petition challenging the election of the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari defeating her in Nandigram after imposing a fine of Rs five lakhs on her.
His recusal from the case was as per the wish of the Bengal Chief Minister who wanted the judge to quit the case over “conflict of interest” alleging his “past links” with the BJP.
“I have no personal inclination to hear out petitioner’s case. I have no hesitation in taking up this case either. It is my Constitutional duty to hear out a case assigned to me by the CJI. I have, however, decided to recuse myself from this case,” Justice Chanda said on Wednesday.
He said the “trouble-mongers” would try to keep the controversy alive if he doesn’t recuse from the case. He also said Mamata’s objection to his confirmation as a permanent Judge of the High Court was not relevant to her recusal plea.
“Petitioner cannot seek recusal based on her own consent or objection with regard to appointment of a Judge. A Judge cannot be said to be biased because of a litigant’s own personal action,” he said.
Before exiting the case, the judge made a series of angry observations, accusing Banerjee of a “preplanned move to malign a judge” and of violating her constitutional duty.
“Such calculative, psychological and offensive attempt to seek recusal need to be firmly repulsed and a cost of ₹ 5 lakh is imposed upon Petitioner,” Justice Chanda said in the order.
Mamata Banerjee wanted the case to be reassigned to a different court as she alleged Justice Chanda has links with the BJP and would be biased. The case will now be referred to Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, who has to reassign it.
In June, Mamata’s counsel sought Justice Chanda’s recusal, referring to publicly available material that showed his “close personal, professional, pecuniary and ideological relationship” with the BJP. The Trinamool Congress had earlier released photographs of Justice Chanda with West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh. In a letter to the Chief Justice on June 16, Banerjee had said Justice Chanda was associated with the BJP in the past. Her letter said there was “reasonable apprehension of bias… in favour of the respondent (Suvendu Adhikari)…”, who is also from the BJP.
About his past Association with the BJP, Justice Chanda said judges vote and they have a political point of view but “it is wrong on Mamata Banerjee’s part to think that a judge cannot discharge his duty as one just because he votes for one political party or the other.”
Banerjee had also said she feared bias because in April she had objected to Justice Chanda’s confirmation as a permanent judge at Calcutta High Court.
“Justice must not only be done; it must also be seen to be done,” she added, as she underlined the need to “sustain the confidence of the public in the judiciary”.
Rebutting that point, Justice Chandra said by that yardstick no judge of the Calcutta High Court could hear the petition as the Chief Minister “must have either objected to or confirmed the appointment”.
Banerjee’s petition challenges the election result in Bengal’s Nandigram, where she lost to Suvendu Adhikari, her former aide-turned-BJP leader. The Nandigram loss was the lone disappointment for the Chief Minister as her Trinamool Congress won a landslide victory in Bengal in the April-May election giving her government the third consecutive term.
Imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh, Justice Chanda said: “Such calculative, psychological and offensive attempt to seek recusal need to be firmly repulsed.” The money will be deposited with the Bar Council of West Bengal within 2 weeks and can be used for families of advocates who succumbed to Covid-19, he added.
Banerjee was defeated in Nandigram by Adhikari by 1,956 votes and Banerjee then had claimed that the returning officer refused to allow a recount because he said “he was threatened.”