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Retired Justice Chiitaranjan Das, who hit headlines for thanking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in his farewell speech said that it would have been hypocritical if he had not mentioned about his association with the right-wing body, the day when he was retiring from the Calcutta High Court.
"Actually what I said at my farewell party was an extempore. I thanked those who matter in my life. The RSS, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh came to my mind spontaneously and I spoke about it. God has led me to speak on RSS. RSS is my root but I am estranged from it 37 years back. It would have been hypocrisy if I had not acknowledged my foundation. Without a foundation, there is no importance to RSS branches. This was spontaneous and from my heart," Das said speaking to ANI on Wednesday. Pointing out the example of Justice Krishna Iyer, Das said that Iyer's association with the Left did not impact his judgements. "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 Chiitaranjan Das said that he has learnt several good qualities from the RSS and rubbished claims that RSS indoctrinates children's minds. "RSS has taught me many good qualities. RSS does not indoctrinate your mind. Children who go to branches of the RSS are taught to enrich their personalities so that they person of character later on in their lives and work with an independent mind," he said. The Retired Judge, however, said that he considers 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 wish 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. (ANI)
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