Retiring Calcutta High Court judge credits RSS for shaping his personality

Retiring Calcutta High Court judge Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash on Monday credited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for shaping his personality and instilling courage and patriotism in him. .The judge said that he has been associated with the RSS since his childhood. "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," he said.Justice Dash said that he distanced himself from the RSS after he became a judge and has dealt with all cases and litigants impartially, irrespective of their party affiliation."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," he said..Justice Dash, who hails from Odisha, enrolled as an advocate in 1986. In 1999, he entered the Odisha judicial service and served as Additional District & Sessions Judge in various parts of the State. He was then appointed as Registrar (Administration) of the Orissa High Court.He was elevated as an additional judge of the Orissa High Court on October 10, 2009 and was transferred to the Calcutta High Court on June 20, 2022..Recently, another Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, had resigned from office to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is also contesting the Lok Sabha polls as the BJP's candidate from the Tamluk constituency in the Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal.