Calcutta HC judge imposes Rs 5 lakh fine on Mamata Banerjee and recuses himself from hearing the election petition of Mamata Banerjee Admin Wed, Jul 07, 2021, at ,02:45 PM Justice Kausik Chanda of the Calcutta High Court recused himself from hearing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's petition challenging the election of Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram while imposing a cost of Rs 5 lakh on her. Observing that a deliberate and conscious attempt was made to influence his decision before the recusal application was placed before him, Justice Chanda imposed the cost for how the recusal was sought and directed that the amount be deposited to the Bar Council of West Bengal within two weeks. Justice Chanda had said that he was never a convenor of the BJP Legal Cell, but had appeared in many cases representing the party before the Calcutta High Court. Banerjee's counsel had earlier written to the Acting Chief Justice of the high court seeking reassignment of her election petition to another bench.