CJ takes oath, focuses on Kol’s role in Independence
Times of India | 17 January 2026
Kolkata: Taking oath as the 44th Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court on Friday, CJ Sujoy Paul remembered Kolkata's pivotal role in India's freedom movement. "The contribution of this city to India's spiritual awakening and freedom movement is immeasurable," he said.
CJ Paul, transferred from Telangana High Court, took the oath as a judge of Calcutta HC on July 18, 2025, and became the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) on Oct 8, 2025, after the retirement of Chief Justice (retd) TS Sivagnanam.
CM Mamata Banerjee congratulated CJ Paul on his appointment. "Sincere congratulations to Justice Shri Sujoy Paul on his being sworn in as the Hon'ble Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. I welcome Justice Paul to this elevated seat of justice," the CM wrote on her ‘X' handle.
Talking about contribution of the "first legal minds in history" from the City of Joy, he cited the names of legal luminaries: "Gurudas Banerjee, Rash Behari Bose, ‘Deshbandhu' Chittaranjan Das, Bijan Kumar Mukherjea and Durga Das Basu," and said, "The judges of this court not only excelled in the art of adjudication but also established extraordinary moral benchmarks."
He cited example of former CJI Bijan Kumar Mukherjea, referring to a book, ‘Legends of Law' (written by V Sudhish Pai): "...When the govt proposed appointing Justice Mukherjea as the CJI ahead of his seniors, Justice Patanjali Shastri and Justice MC Mahajan, he refused to supersede them… He threatened to resign rather than compromise the principle of seniority and judicial decorum. He embodied Plato's sentiment and said, ‘He who does not desire power is better suited to hold it'. The task before us is to uphold traditions set by such predecessors."
In their speeches addressing the new CJ, the members of the Bar made several requests. One was to ensure that the judge litigation ratio at Calcutta High Court was addressed. The vice-president of Law Incorporated Society, Jaideep Kar, said, "Judiciary is a repository of the confidence of people, and the common man looks to the institution as the ultimate guardian of their rights and liberties. Unfortunately, in recent times, our institution is facing a crisis as the judge litigation ratio is completely disproportionate. It would be of immense benefit to this institution if, during your tenure as Chief Justice, the lordship could do something to address this issue. Out of the strength of 70 judges, we at present are down to about 44 judges.."
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Asok Kumar Chakrabarti, in his speech, said, "The first thing which has to be addressed now is the question of implementation of human rights, which is the cry of civilisation in the 21st century."
CJ Paul concluded his speech with a quote from the Naradh-Smriti, an ancient scripture: "A court is not a court if there are no elders, elders are not elders unless they promote dharma, dharma is not dharma unless it promotes truth, and truth is not truth if it is mixed with sophistry."