I Learned To Be Courageous, Upright, Patriotic And Have Equal Views For All From RSS: Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash Of Calcutta HC Says During His Farewell Speech
During his retirement speech today, Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash of the Calcutta High Court said today that he was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and wants to go back to it after a gap of 37 years. He said that he learned from the organisation to be courageous and upright, have a "Samadrishti" or equal view for others and above all, a sense of patriotism and commitment to the work, from the RSS.
Towards the end of his speech during the Full Court Reference on the occasion of his farewell, Justice Dash said, "Last but not the least, today I must unfold my true self. I owe a lot to an organisation..... I am there from my childhood and throughout my youth. I have learned to be courageous, upright, have a 'Samadrishti', equal view for others and above all the sense of patriotism and commitment to the work wherever you are, that is the organisation and to the detest of some of the persons, I must admit here that I was and I am a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh".
He said that he had to distance himself from the organisation due to his career in the judiciary. "I had distanced myself from the organisation till about 37 years, because of the work I undertook", he said.
He said that he never used the organisation for any career gain. He said, "I have never used my membership to the organisation for any advancement of my career, because that is against the principles of the organisation".
"I have treated everybody at par, be he rich, be he poor, be he a communist, be he a BJP person, be he Congress, be he TMC, all are equal before me. And from my conduct, you must have seen, I do not have any bias for anybody or any bias for any particular political philosophy or particular political mechanisms. All are equal before me and I try to dispense justice on two principles. One is empathy, the second is- the law can be bent to do justice, but justice cannot be bent to suit the law. These two principles I always applied in my life and I might have gone wrong, I might have gone right, but I am ready now to go back to the organisation if they call me for any assistance or for any work they need, I am capable of doing. Because I have not done any wrong in my life, I have the courage to say that I belong to the organisation, because that is also not wrong. If I am a good person, I cannot belong to a bad organisation", Justice Dash added.
After his speech, Justice Dash got up and said that he wanted to bow, for one last time, before the great institution, great chair and all the advocates of the Court, saying that he will not have the opportunity to bow again.
During his speech, the Judge said that some of the rules of the High Court have become archaic and have not been changed with time. He suggested changing such laws.
Speaking about his life, he said that his father passed away when he was only 27 years old and that his three sisters and their husbands stood by his side, helping him through his difficulties.
Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash, whose parent High Court is the Orissa High Court, was transferred to the Calcutta High Court in June 2022. He was appointed an Additional Judge of the Orissa High Court in October 2009.
Justice Dash enrolled as an Advocate in 1986 and joined the office of Justice A.S. Naidu as a junior. He joined the service in the Cadre of Orissa Superior Judicial Service (Senior Branch) as a Direct Recruit in the year 1999. He has worked as Additional District & Sessions Judge, Sambalpur, Additional District & Sessions Judge, Deogarh, Special Judge (Vigilance), Sambalpur, District & Sessions Judge, Keonjhar, District & Sessions Judge, Berhampur, Chairman, Orissa Sales Tax Tribunal, Cuttack and Registrar (Administration) of Orissa High Court, Cuttack.
