Justice Shampa Sarkar is currently hearing the Chief Minister’s election petition. The Calcutta High Court had issued notice to the officer in the matter and asked him to preserve the election related documents during the pendency of the petition.
On July 7, Justice Kaushik Chanda of the High Court recused himself from hearing Banerjee’s plea against the officer’s victory from Nandigram. Objecting to the manner in which Justice Chanda sought to boycott her, Banerjee was fined Rs 5 lakh.
Seeking the separation of Justice Chanda, it was claimed that he was an active member of the BJP till his appointment as the Additional Solicitor General of India in 2015. Fears of bias were cited in the decision of the election petition. Justice Chanda said he was never the convener of the BJP legal cell, but appeared in several cases representing the party before the Calcutta High Court.
(Published in an arrangement with IANS.)
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