In a judgement that left the ruling CPI(M) red in the face, the Supreme Court today cancelled the allotment of a plot of land to a former Calcutta High Court judge by then chief minister Jyoti Basu.The court also directed the state to auction the bungalow built on the plot to compensate the former judge, Justice Bhagawati Prasad Banerjee. It observed that the former judge had got the land due to an ‘‘unholy nexus with the government’’. ‘‘He (Justice Banerjee) has misused his divine judicial duty.He has betrayed the trust reposed on him by the people. To say the least, this is bad,’’ the court ruled.The allotment had been made under the Chief Minister’s special quota in 1987. The court said the auction of the house should take place within a year and money be given to the former judge, who will then handover the possession of the house and the plot to the government. West Bengal Advocate-General Balai Roy said the state government has no option but to comply with the SC order. ‘‘We may file a review petition but I don’t think that will be tenable. We will have to act according to the Supreme Court’s order. But I wonder why Banerjee was singled out of so many allottees,’’ Roy said.Justice Banerjee could not be contacted for his comment.The Supreme Court order was passed on the basis of a case filed by Trinamool Congress MLA and former IAS official Dipak Ghosh. Ghosh had appealed for the cancellation of ‘‘illegal’’ land allotments made to 40 people under the CM’s special quota in Salt Lake. The allotees included political leaders, top IPS and IAS officers and judges.While the court dismissed the petition, it said it did not approve of Basu’s allotment of land from his quota. ‘‘We clarify that the dismissal of the writ petition against other respondents should not be misunderstood as approval of the policy decision of the government with regard to the allotment of land by the Chief Minister from his discretionary quota,’’ the bench said.Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said he would comment on the order only after going through a copy himself. Basu, meanwhile, claimed the government has won the case. ‘‘We have won the case otherwise. It is only one former judge who has been ordered to vacate his house,’’ he told reporters.Trinamool MLA and advocate Arunabha Ghosh said Justice Banerjee in 1987 had put a blanket stay on the government’s distribution of land in Salt Lake after an NGO filed a case in the Court. Later, Justice Banerjee allegedly reversed his earlier order and said land could be allotted through the CM’s discretionary quota.
