Calcutta HC Judge, Justice Chanda had on June 24, 2021 reserved judgment on Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s plea that the judge should recuse himself from hearing her election petition. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed apprehension of bias on the part of the judge. Justice Chanda said that before this application, a deliberate and deliberate attempt was made to influence his decision. Seeing the manner in which the demand was made to set aside the judge, Justice Chanda imposed the fine on Banerjee and asked that the amount of the fine be deposited in the West Bengal Bar Council within two weeks.
In the order, Justice Chanda said, “Such a deliberate, psychological and coercive attempt is required to be vigorously resisted in seeking to withdraw from the hearing and a fine of Rs 5 lakh is imposed on the petitioner.”
Justice Chanda removed Banerjee’s election petition from her court. The matter will now be referred to Acting Chief Justice Justice Rajesh Bindal to refer it to another bench.
Banerjee’s petition sought to recuse from the hearing of Justice Chanda, claiming that he was an active member of the India’s ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) till he was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India in 2015 and since the election of a BJP candidate has been challenged. Therefore, there is a possibility of bias in the decision.
Justice Chanda had said that he had never been the convener of the BJP’s legal cell, but had appeared in the Calcutta High Court on behalf of the party in several cases. Banerjee’s counsel had written to the acting Chief Justice of the High Court requesting that her election petition be referred to another bench.
After the defeat in Nandigram, Mamta took oath as the Chief Minister on 7 May. Mamata Banerjee had filed a petition in the High Court challenging the victory of Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram assembly constituency. Earlier, CM Mamata Banerjee had written a letter to the acting Chief Justice of the High Court, Rajesh Bindal, urging him to refer the election petition to another bench to avoid bias against him.