Centre appoints new CJ for Calcutta HC

The Union Minister for Law and Justice Ram Jethmalani today confirmed that Mathur was being moved to Calcutta and the file was awaiting the President8217;s approval. 8220;In all probability, Mathur should take over within less than a week8221;, Jethmalani told The Indian Express.

But the decision has apparently ruffled feathers in West Bengal as Mamata Banerjee, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, opposed the move terming it unwarranted8217; and a case for protecting Bengali pride. Sen was doing fine as actingGovernor for one-and-a-half months and there was no need to bring an outsider here, Banerjee recently told journalists. She is learnt to have taken up the matter with the Prime Minister as well.

Jethmalani however, is unperturbed. 8220;Decisions have to be taken. You can8217;t continue with an acting Chief Justice for ever,8221; he said, adding, 8220;Moreover, the convention is not to post somebody from outside the State as Chief Justice8221;.

Mathur is senior to Sen and was therefore an automatic choice to head the Calcutta High Court. However, the Government had no plans to shift Sen to some other High Court, Jethmalani claimed.

Mathur will work as acting Governor holding the designation of Chief Justice while Sen will continue as acting Chief Justice. 8220;Both posts, of the Governor and Chief Justice, being full-time, can8217;t be handled by one person,8221; the Law Minister said.

If the Government has appointed a new Chief Justice, why couldn8217;t it appoint a new Governor for West Bengal? 8220;Actually, there should be aregular Governor but when the Opposition is crying hoarse at every Government decision, there is hardly any scope for such a move,8221; said Jethmalani.

He quotes the Congress8217; opposition to the Government8217;s proposal to allow proxy voting for military personnel and to have provision for state funding for electioneering, as two examples of this. 8220;They proclaim full support to Army personnel fighting in Kargil, but won8217;t allow them proxy voting rights8221;, he said.

The present provision limiting election expenses was a farce, feels the Law Minister, since it does not include expenditure made by friends, relatives or supporters of a candidate on electioneering in his account. 8220;But the Congress would not like to have any electoral reforms,8221; he said.

Jethmalani agreed that the Government, in absence of an elected Parliament, could not take major policy decisions. But decisions of such urgent need like proxy voting for Army personnel and state funding for polls, could be taken through a consensus among parties,he claimed.