In farewell speech, Calcutta HC judge says he's RSS member, 'ready to go back'

Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash, who retired as a judge of the Calcutta High Court on Monday, said he was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Speaking at his farewell at the high court in the presence of other judges and members of the bar, justice Dash said he was "ready to go back to the organisation" if they called him for any assistance or for any work that he was capable of doing.

"To the distaste of some persons, I must admit here that I was and I am a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh," he said. Demitting office after over 14 years as a high court judge, Dash came to Calcutta HC from Orissa HC on transfer.

"I owe a lot to the organisation... I have been part of it from my childhood and throughout my youth," he said. "I have learned to be courageous, upright and have an equal view for others and above all, a sense of patriotism and commitment to work," he said.

Justice Dash said he had distanced himself from the organisation for about 37 years because of the work he undertook. "I have never used my membership of the organisation for any advancement of my career because it is against its principles," he said.

Justice Dash said he treated everybody at par, be he a rich or poor person, be they "a Communist, or from the BJP, Congress or TMC (Trinamool Congress)".

"All are equal before me, I do not hold any bias for anyone or for any particular political philosophy or mechanism," he said, adding that he tried to dispense justice on the principles of empathy and that "law can be bent to do justice, but justice cannot be bent to suit the law".

He said he was "ready to go back to the organisation" if they called him for any assistance or for any work they needed which he was capable of doing. "Because I have not done anything wrong in my life, I have the courage to say I belong to the organisation, because that is also not wrong," he said, adding that if he was a good person, he could not belong to a bad organisation.

Born in 1962 in Odisha's Sonepur, Dash did his schooling in Ullunda and completed his higher studies in Dhenkanal and Bhubaneswar, following which he graduated in law in Cuttack in 1985.

He enrolled as an advocate in 1986 and was appointed as an additional standing counsel of the state government in 1992, which he continued till 1994, according to the website of the Calcutta HC.

He joined the Orissa Superior Judicial Service (Senior Branch) in February 1999 as a direct recruit. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Orissa HC in October 2009. Dash joined as a judge of the Calcutta HC on transfer on 20 June 2022.