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“To the distaste of some, I must admit here that I was and am a member of RSS.(But) I don’t have any bias against anybody,” Dash told the audience, just over two months after his controversial former colleague Abhijit Gangopadhyay resigned as a judge to join BJP and become the party’s candidate for Tamluk Lok Sabha seat.
(As a judge), I have treated everybody on a par: Rich, poor, a Communist, (or someone) with BJP, Cong or Trinamool. All were equal before me As I’ve done nothing wrong in my life, I had the courage to say I belong to RSS as that too is not wrong. I can’t belong to a bad organisation If I am a good person
Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash
“I am ready to go back to the organisation (RSS) if it calls me for any assistance for any work that I am capable of doing,” said Dash, who was an HC judge for 15 years. The outgoing judge, third in seniority, added, “I have never used my (RSS) membership for any advancement of my career, which is against the principles of my organisation.”
I can’t belong to a bad organisation if I am a good person: Calcutta HC judge
Outgoing judge of Calcutta HC, Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash, said on Monday he “had the courage to say I belong to the organisation (RSS) because that is not wrong. I cannot belong to a bad organisation if I am a good person”.
In his farewell speech, Dash said, “I have treated everybody on a par – the rich, the poor, a Communist, or someone with BJP, Congress or Trinamool. All were equal before me.”
I have treated everybody on a par — the rich, the poor, a Communist, or someone with BJP, Congress or Trinamool. All were equal before me
Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash
A division bench led by Dash stoked a controversy earlier this year with its observations in a case pertaining to sexual abuse of a minor, prompting Supreme Court to term these “wrong and problematic”.
“Adolescent girls must control their sexual urges instead of giving in to two minutes of pleasure,” the bench said, leading SC to say that judges were supposed to decide a case based on the law and facts instead of resorting to preaching.
“I don’t have any bias against anybody – not against any political philosophy or mechanism. I tried to dispense justice based on two principles. The first is empathy, and the second is the law. The law can be bent to suit justice but justice cannot be bent to suit the law…I may have done wrong, I may have done right,” Dash said at his farewell.
He also spoke about the need for Calcutta HC to change some of its “archaic” rules. “The Chief Justice needs the bar’s cooperation. We have to march with time. We cannot look back at the past. We have to look ahead.”
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has often accused some HC judges of compromising the law. A day after the court’s verdict in the cash-for-school jobs case last month, she said at an election rally, “They have purchased everything. Courts have been purchased. I am not talking about the Supreme Court.”
A division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya admitted five petitions seeking suo motu action against the chief minister for allegedly insulting the judiciary.
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