Kolkata, Jul 7 : The Calcutta High court imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for ‘attempting to portray the judiciary in bad light’.Calcutta High Court judge Justice Kausik Chanda imposed the cost while recusing from hearing the election petition filed by Mamata Banerjee. The plea against the Nandigram election verdict will now be heard by another bench of the High Court.
The amount will be used for families of lawyers affected by Covid-19.In his judgment, Justice Chanda said that like any individual citizen, a judge too exercises his voting rights and has political inclinations. The past association of a judge with a political cannot be apprehension of bias, he said, adding that accepting such a contention will lead to Bench hunting.Mamata had sought the recusal of Justice Chanda claiming that he was an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party before he became a high court judge.
