"Letter Highly Derisive, Chairman Acted On His Own" 4 Members Of West Bengal Bar Council On Letter To CJI Against Justice Bindal

4 Elected Members of the Bar Council of West Bengal have addressed a letter to the Chief Justice of India stating that Chairman of the Bar Council of West Bengal, Ashok Kumar Deb misused the letterhead to send a letter to CJI seeking removal of Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, Rajesh Bindal."Justice Bindal is a partial, unfair and biased judge whose continuance at High Court interferes with fair and impartial dispensation of justice," the letter by Ashok Kumar Deb, the Bar Council Chairman had said. Ashok Kumar Deb also happens to be a Member of Parliament belonging to the Trinamool Congress.The instant letter has been sent by Advocates Kailash Tamoli, Samir Paul, Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya, Mihir Das and it states:"The Letter is highly derisive and by no figment of imagination represents the sentiments of the majority of the members of the bar, constraining us, the Bar Council Members, signing below to register our dissent."The letter avers that the contents of the letter are far more contemptuous and devious than the subject of the Letter.Further, the letter states that by using the Office of the Bar Council of West Bengal, its Letterhead, seal, and emblem, without any authority, the Ld. Chairman has acted on his own, without consulting the elected members of the Bar Council of West Bengal."(The letter) puts a deep and indomitable scar upon the impeccable commitment and devotion attached with the Bar Council as an institution of pride that had been dedicated towards maintenance of the highest standards of ethics and morality."Further averments in the letterThe contents of the letter was NEITHER DISCUSSED AS AN AGENDA IN ANY MEETING OF THE COUNCIL, NOR WE THE BELOW MEMBERS WERE AWARE ABOUT IT UNTILL UNLESS THROUGH SOME SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS. The contents of the letter is highly derogatory, bereft of truth or merits and a token attempt to please the greed of the political bosses of the ruling dispensation. The personal and professional allegations levelled against His Lordship The Hon'ble Justice Bindal, through the contemptuous letter, is no way closer to the sentiments of the Legal Fraternity of West Bengal, let alone to we, the other members of the Bar Council of West Bengal.BackgroundThe Letter by the Chairman, Bar Council of West Bengal stated that Justice Bindal had stayed an Interim order of bail passed by the Special CBI Court in favor of members of a certain political dispensation without giving the aggrieved parties an opportunity of being heard (Narada matter).It may be noted that on May 17, the Division Bench had stayed the bail granted by the Special CBI Court at Kolkata to four Trinamool Congress leaders - Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee and Sovan Chatterjee - who were arrested dramatically by CBI on May 17. Justice Bindal leads the 5-judge benches which is hearing the CBI's transfer petition in the Narada case and also the West Bengal post-poll cases.The letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India states:"The Calcutta High Court being the oldest chartered court in the country has a rich cultural and historical past. Being associated with such an esteemed institution, it pains us greatly to write this letter. Our Hon*ble High Court has been shaped up through the impeccable commitment and devotion of the officers of this court, including but not limited to the Hon'ble Judges, Advocates, administrative officers as well as other staff members towards the maintenance of the highest standards of ethics and morality. Any endeavour that may seek to endanger the sanctity of this Hon'ble Court will destroy the sacred fabric of this institution."Justice Bindal was appointed as a judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in 2006. In December 2020, he was appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the Common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.He was transferred to the Calcutta High Court on January 5, 2021.Justice Bindal took over as Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court after Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan demitted office on April 28, 2021.

"Letter Highly Derisive, Chairman Acted On His Own" 4 Members Of West Bengal Bar Council On Letter To CJI Against Justice Bindal

Sparsh Upadhyay

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