May 21, 2024 07:37 AM IST
Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash said had distanced himself from the RSS for about 37 years because of his work in law.
Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash, who retired as a Calcutta high court judge on Monday, revealed that he was and is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Chitta Ranjan Dash added that he was “ready to go back to the organisation” if they called for any assistance or work.
“To the distaste of some persons, I must admit here that I was and I am a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)…I owe a lot to the organisation… I am there from my childhood and throughout my youth,” Justice Dash said during his farewell speech at the high court.
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According to Justice Dash, he had distanced himself from the organisation for about 37 years because of his work in law.
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“I have never used my membership of the organisation for any advancement of my career because it is against its principles…I treated everybody at par, be he a rich or poor person, be he a communist, or from the BJP, Congress or TMC. All are equal before me; I do not hold any bias for anyone or any particular political philosophy or mechanism,” he said.
Justice Dash added that since he did not do anything wrong in life, he has the courage to say that he belongs to the RSS. “If I am a good person, I could not belong to a bad organisation,” he said.
Demitting office after over 14 years as a high court judge, Justice Dash said, “I have learnt to be courageous, upright and have an equal view for others and above all, the sense of patriotism and commitment to the work…I tried to dispense justice on the principles of empathy. Law can be bent to do justice, but justice cannot be bent to suit the law.”
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Who is Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash?
Born in 1962 in Odisha’s Sonepur, Justice Dash graduated in law from the Madhu Sudan Law College in Cuttack in 1985.
In 1986, he enrolled as an advocate and in 1992, he was appointed as an additional standing counsel of the state government – which he continued till 1994. Justice Dash joined the Orissa Superior Judicial Service (Senior Branch) in February 1999 as a direct recruit, following which he was elevated to an additional judge of the Orissa high court in October 2009.
He joined as a judge of the Calcutta high court on transfer on June 20, 2022.
During his journey, Justice Dash was at the centre of controversy when he was part of a bench which delivered a judgment containing certain codes of conduct for adolescent girls to ‘control their sexual urges’.
(With inputs from PTI)
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