Three judges allege intimidation

Three judges at Alipore Court in South twenty-four Parganas district, West Bengal, say they were threatened inside the District Judge's chamber by a man posing as a Cabinet Minister.

The incident began with a blocked vehicle

On September twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-six, a private vehicle blocked the judges' car at New Alipore. The next day they were called to the District Judge's chamber, told the vehicle owner, a doctor, would apologise.

The impostor introduced himself

The doctor arrived with a man named Sudipta Roy Chowdhury, who introduced himself as a Cabinet Minister and public servant, repeatedly using that designation throughout the meeting on September twenty-fifth.

He created an atmosphere of influence

During the meeting, Chowdhury made repeated telephone calls, addressing people as Dada and Didi while naming higher-ranking judicial officers, creating an atmosphere of influence and intimidation.

“he repeatedly made telephone calls to various persons and addressed them as 'Dada' and 'Didi', while referring to them by the names of higher-ranking Judicial Officers”

The judges identified the impostor

After the meeting, the judges searched the internet and discovered Chowdhury was not a Cabinet Minister or public servant. His name had appeared as an accused in the Rose Valley investigation and he had been in Enforcement Directorate custody.

The judges reported their fear

The three judges, including two women, wrote that the episode left them under a continuing sense of fear, pressure and insecurity, and they could not discharge their judicial functions freely under such threats.

“We respectfully submit that the entire episode has left the three of us, including two lady Judicial Officers, under a continuing sense of fear, pressure and insecurity.”

They named themselves in the letter

The three judges are Souvik De, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, third Court; Monikuntala Roy, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, eighth Court; and Mahezabeen Afrin Parween, Judicial Magistrate, sixth Court.

They submitted evidence to authorities

Along with newspaper reports and a police complaint to the Officer-in-Charge of New Alipore police station, the judges submitted a storage chip containing most of the conversation from the District Judge's chamber meeting.

They seek protection of judicial independence

The judges wrote that they made their representation not for personal redress but because judicial officers cannot function freely under threats and extraneous influence, and the independence of the subordinate judiciary cannot become vulnerable to imposters.

“the independence of the subordinate judiciary cannot be permitted to become vulnerable to the influence of an alleged broker or intermediary or impostor”