Snehal Upadhyay-
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya of Calcutta High Court has issued a hard-hitting order on his cases being transferred to a division bench by the Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal.
Justice Bhattacharyya addressed all the concerns and said “I was amazed when my officer, as per my instruction, next intimated me that the RG had been directed to call for the records, to be allocated before a Division Bench, despite my judicial order dated July 16, 2021, on the instruction of the Hon’ble Acting Chief Justice of this Court.”
Justice Bhattacharyya stated that this action of the Acting Chief Justice violates the rules of the Appellate Side Rules and expressed his agony that reassignment of cases overnight without his knowledge has created “translucence in the minds of all concerned parties”.
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Justice Bhattacharya also mentioned that copy of the letter of reassignment of the instant case was signed by the Acting Chief Justice when he was not present in Kolkata. The letter was subsequently sent on WhatsApp and was forwarded to him.
Raising serious doubts and grievances on impartial functioning done by the High Court, Justice Bhattacharya considering all unprecedented chain of events said that “Chutzpah (Yiddish) is probably not appreciated in the higher echelons of power. However, opacity creates whispers in the corridors and is not healthy for a judicial system.”
Justice Bhattacharya further expressed his fear on the instant order may not be permitted for being uploaded due to the existing power structure in the Court.
Lastly, Justice Bhattacharyya has mentioned that he had never disobeyed judicial decorum.
This matter will be heard by a division bench in question “subject to the said Bench having the determination to hear this matter as per law” and in furtherance of the “basic tenets of transparency and judicial decorum”.
