Kolkata, Sept. 30 -- A judge of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) appellate tribunal has reportedly sought to step down from the assignment, saying the long daily commute to the tribunal in Joka and the volume of work have made it difficult for him to continue.
Former Calcutta High Court judge Indrajit Chatterjee, who has been hearing SIR appeals from Murshidabad, told the media that he spends nearly four hours travelling between his Salt Lake residence and the tribunal. He leaves home around 9.30 am and usually returns around 7pm after leaving the tribunal at about 5 pm. He said that it was becoming difficult for him to bear such an arduous journey, more so because the roads are in a battered condition, coupled with traffic conditions.
The former judge reportedly said that the tribunal was dealing with a particularly large caseload, with 7,47,621 appeals from Murshidabad pending before it. Chatterjee said he puts in nearly 10 hours a day for the assignment and receives Rs 2,133 after tax deductions.
The judge said he had accepted the assignment voluntarily but had not been informed beforehand about the venue or the duration of the work. He has written to High Court Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge seeking to discontinue his services from November 2.
Chatterjee said he would remain open to continuing if the tribunal venue is within 12km of Salt Lake or if he is allowed to work from home.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.