HC Judge recuses himself from Nadigram poll plea, imposes Rs 5 lakh cost on Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata, West Bengal
On Wednesday, Calcutta High Court judge Kaushik Chanda recuses himself from hearing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging the election of Suvendu Adhikari from the Nandigram constituency.
The Chief Minister had objected to Justice Chanda hearing her petition, citing “likelihood of bias due to associations the judge has with the BJP during his days as a lawyer.
“Observing that a deliberate and conscious attempt was made to influence his decision before the recusal application was presented before him, Justice Chanda imposed a fine of Rs. 5 lakh on Mamata Banerjee and directed that the amount be deposited to the Bar Council of West Bengal wihin two weeks. In his order, he said “Such calculative, psychological, and offensive attempts to seek recusal need to be firmly repulsed and a cost of 5 lakh is imposed upon the petitioner.”
CM Banerjee had already written to acting Chief Justice of Calcutta HC Rajesh Bindal, seeking recusal of Justice Chanda. The Chief Minister’s election petition challenges the election of Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP candidate who defeated her in Nandigram in the recently held West Bengal Assembly polls.
For more daily updates click here.
News Source: Times of India
Updated by Indranuj Ray