Mamata case judge reminisces of days as lawyer, reserves order

Calcutta high court judge Kausik Chanda on Thursday observed that he was put on a “media trial” for his association with Bharatiya Janata Party prior to judgeship, and reserved the order on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s plea that he drop out from hearing her petition against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s election win in Nandigram. The 90-minute hearing in the high court saw an intriguing debate between justice Chanda and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Banerjee, and claimed that there was overwhelming material to show that the judge had been “an active member of BJP” and held a “deeply personal, professional and ideological association” with the party. Justice Chanda, during the proceedings, not only expressed his displeasure against Banerjee’s counsel for not citing “likelihood of bias” when the matter first came up before his court on June 18, but also quipped repeatedly about how he helped BJP in several legal wrangles before the high court when he was a lawyer. All newspapers in the state carried my name and photograph too.” As Singhvi continued showing the newspaper clippings, mostly from between 2010 and 2014 when justice Chanda was appearing for the BJP before the Calcutta high court, the judge recollected that the BJP was not a popular party in the state when he was initially representing it.