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NEW DELHI: Sparking outrage across the country, Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash has proudly proclaimed his affiliation with the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and announced plans to actively work for the organization after over three decades during his farewell speech at the Calctta High Court.
During his farewell speech, Justice Dash discloses, “Today, I must unfold my true self. I owe a lot to one organisation. I am there from my childhood till I attained my youth. I have learned to be courageous, upright, have equal view for others, and above all, the sense of patriotism and commitment to the work wherever you work. I must admit here that I was and I am a member of the RSS”.
However, he justifies his association with the Hindutva outfit, “I have distanced myself from the organisation (RSS) for about 37 years due to the work I undertook. I never used the membership of my organisation for any advancement of my career, because that is against our principle. I have treated everybody at par, be it a Communist person, be it a BJP or Congress or even TMC person. I do not have any bias against anybody. I do not have any bias against any political personality. All were equal before me. I tried to dispense justice on two principles: one is empathy and second is law can be bent to do justice, but justice cannot be bent to suit the law.”
Justice Dash’s open embrace of the RSS, which has faced widespread criticism for promoting Hindutva ideology , has raised serious concerns about judicial impartiality and secularism in India’s highest institutions. Many see his statements as a brazen violation of the principles of judicial neutrality and independence.
“A sitting judge taking such an openly partisan stance and aligning himself with an group like the RSS is simply unacceptable,” a layer commented. “It undermines public faith in the judiciary and makes a mockery of our constitutional values of equality and secularism.”
The remarks are made even more egregious given Justice Dash’s own controversial past rulings and conduct on the bench. In 2022, while serving on the Orissa High Court, he was part of a bench that delivered a widely condemned judgement laden with misogynistic “codes of conduct” for adolescent girls to control their “sexual urges.”
On this remarks, the Supreme Court bench led Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud came down heavily and saying “highly objectionable” and “unwarranted” remarks made by the Calcutta High Court in a POCSO case judgment. The top court said these remarks prima facie violated the rights of adolescents under Article 21 of the Constitution, taking suo motu cognizance of the controversial Calcutta HC comments after a petition.
Legal experts have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and biases creeping into Justice Dash’s rulings, given his openly stated ideological leanings. “How can any Muslim, Christian, Sikh or other minority litigant get a fair hearing from someone who has declared allegiance to a Hindu supremacist outfit?” questioned a legal activist.
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Similarly, his Calcutta High Court colleague, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who recently resigned to join the BJP and is now contesting the Lok Sabha polls on the party’s ticket from Tamluk in West Bengal. The open embrace of partisan ideologies by sitting judges of constitutional courts has sparked fears about the sacred principles of judicial neutrality and independence being eroded. Legal experts and civil society voices have sounded the alarm over the disturbing trend.