Kolkata : Retired Justice Chittaranjan Das, who hit the headlines for thanking Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in his farewell speech, has said it would have been hypocritical if he did not mention about his association with the right-wing body.
Das told news agency ANI that his speech on the day he retired from the Calcutta High Court was an extempore. “I thanked those who matter in my life. The RSS, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh came to my mind… (I) spontaneously spoke about it. God has led me to speak on the RSS. RSS is my root but I have been estranged for 37 years. It would have been hypocrisy if I had not acknowledged my foundation. Without a foundation, there is no importance of RSS branches.”
Pointing out the example of Justice Krishna Iyer, Das said Iyer’s association with the Left did not impact his judgments.
“You must have heard about Justice Krishna Iyer. He was a Communist party cadre. Was he delivering justice influenced by Communist philosophy? I haven’t seen anyone equal to him. He was an institution in himself,” the retired Justice said.
Justice Das said he learnt several good qualities from the RSS and rubbished claims that the RSS indoctrinates children.
“RSS does not indoctrinate your mind. Children, who go to their branches, are taught to enrich their personalities so that they become a person of character in their lives and work with an independent mind,” he said.
The judge, however, said he considered the practice of joining political parties immediately after retiring to be against the judicial code of conduct and asserted that retired judges should have a “cooling off” period of at least two years, following which they can join any party they wished to.
“Many judges have joined political parties in the past and have become successful. Our moral code of conduct states that there should be a cooling-off period for at least two years… I don’t think it is right to join a political party immediately after retirement,” Das said.
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.