HC dismisses PIL seeking to modify judge’s roster

Kolkata: With exemplary costs of Rs 50,000, the Calcutta High Court, on Wednesday, dismissed a PIL which sought to modify Justice Amrita Sinha’s roster due to a conflict of interest.

The court also debarred the litigant from filing a PIL ever again by invoking the Calcutta High Court Appellate Side Rules. The petitioner, who is an advocate, sought to change the determination of Justice Amrita Sinha’s bench hearing matters of police inaction by claiming that since the West Bengal CID was investigating Justice Sinha’s husband for allegedly using his spouse’s office to influence a probe, her determination over police matters would not inspire public confidence in the judicial system.

The Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya dismissed the plea as an “attempt to intimidate the office of the Chief Justice”.

The court said: “It has been conclusively held that the right of the CJ in finalising the determination cannot be tinkered by a petitioner, and more particularly by an advocate practising before this court. The advice to look at the legal provisions fell on deaf ears. Therefore, this writ petition is a clear abuse of process, and probably an attempt to intimidate the court, and to directly interfere with the jurisdiction of the Chief Justice.”

The bench, while dictating the order, took severe exception to the fact that the writ petitioner had pushed on with the plea despite several interventions by the court, asking him to read up on whether a PIL challenging the Chief Justice’s power to decide the determination of a judge could be challenged.