BOMBAY: Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court A.M. Bhattacharjee has resigned from his post effective from April 1, 1995. “It is not a pleasant feeling. This controversy has lowered the prestige and dignity of the judiciary.” Justice Bhattacharjee said.
Members of the Bombay Bar Association, the Western India Advocates Association and the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa had passed resolutions demanding the Chief Justice’s resignation for entering into an allegedly dubious deal which involved sell- ing of rights for his book, Muslim Law and the Constitution, to a British company, Roebuck Publishing, for a sum of $80,000.
Addressing a news conference, a day after he forwarded his resignation to the President of India, Justice Bhattacharjee categorically asserted. that the offer from his publisher was absolutely bonafide and so was his acceptance, and that there was nothing doubtful about the matter.
Justice Bhattacharjee added that the price received by him for the book was via a bank draft that was enchased in his account in the State Bank of India, Bombay. This was done after obtaining views of prominent legal experts.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 17, 1995
