Following his retirement from the Calcutta High Court on Monday, Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash declared that he was a part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In front of judges and bar members during his goodbye speech at the high court, Justice Dash declared that he was “ready to go back to the organisation” if they needed his help or for any task that he could complete.
“To the distaste of some persons, I must admit here that I was and I am a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),” he said.
Justice Dash, who served as a high court judge for more than 14 years, transferred to the Calcutta High Court from the Orissa High Court.
“I owe a lot to the organisation… I am there from my childhood and throughout my youth,” he 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,” he said.
Due to the work he did, Justice Dash stated that he had been away from the organisation for almost 37 years.
“I have never used my membership of the organisation for any advancement of my career because it is against its principles,” he said.
According to Justice Dash, he treated everyone equally, regardless of their wealth or lack thereof, communist affiliation, or membership in the BJP, Congress, or 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 declared that he was “prepared to return to the organisation” in the event that they needed his help or for any other task that he could complete.
“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.
Justice Dash was born in Sonepur, Odisha, in 1962. He attended Ullunda for his early education and finished his advanced studies in Dhenkanal and Bhubaneswar. In 1985, he obtained his legal degree at Cuttack.
According to the Calcutta High Court website, he registered as an advocate in 1986 and was appointed as an additional standing counsel of the state government in 1992, a position he held until 1994.
He was a direct recruit when he joined the Orissa Superior Judicial Service (Senior Branch) in February 1999. In October 2009, he was promoted to the position of Orissa High Court’s additional judge.
On June 20, 2022, Justice Dash was transferred to the Calcutta High Court and became a judge there.
