In the TMC versus BJP political war, Calcutta High Court’s image takes a beating

The aftermath of the West Bengal Assembly elections has had a profound impact on the Calcutta High Court, whose image has taken a beating in the political war between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

On June 25, Ashok Kumar Deb, the chairman of the Bar Council of West Bengal, sent a scathing letter to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, seeking the removal of acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court Rajesh Bindal. The Bar Council is a statutory body constituted under the Advocates Act that has powers to admit and determine cases of misconduct of lawyers. Deb is also a sitting MLA of the Trinamool Congress, which won a landslide victory in the recent Assembly polls in the state.

In his letter, he made serious accusations about Justice Bindal, suggesting that he was acting in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party and against the interests of the Trinamool Congress in cases related to the Narada scam.

Deb’s letter elicited an immediate response from four other members of the Bar Council of West Bengal, who wrote to the chief justice of India claiming he had misused his position by sending the message on the letterhead of the state bar council when majority of members did not…

Read more