Sir — Cristiano Ronaldo should be lauded for his bold step. Few celebrities have either the good sense or the courage to openly snub a corporate entity as large as Coca Cola for its unhealthy products. Usually, celebrities will endorse any product — from paan masala to fried food — for the sake of money. This is dangerous because they have significant power to sway public opinion as Ronaldo has shown.
Arup Ganguly,
Calcutta
Fair demand
Sir — One would expect that in the interest of fairness and justice, judges of both the Supreme Court and the high courts should be asked to submit a declaration that they neither owe allegiance to any political party nor are inspired or influenced by the activities and ideals of any political party. It is thus not surprising at all that Mamata Banerjee’s lawyer has asked her case challenging the Nandigram assembly election verdict be transferred to a judge other than Kaushik Chanda, who, apparently, is an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (“CM’s lawyer seeks judge switch in counting case”, June 19).
Banerjee did not know that the petition filed by her in the Calcutta High Court will be heard by a judge who has alleged links to the BJP. She is lucky that this fact was brought to her notice by her advocate. Of course it should not be automatically assumed that if the case is heard by Justice Chanda it will bring a prejudiced verdict. But to rule out even the slightest kernel of doubt in the minds of the people and the appellants, the matter should be reassigned to another judge. This way, Banerjee will later not be able to claim bias if the verdict goes against her.
Arun Gupta,
Calcutta
Sir — It is not surprising that Mamata Banerjee’s lawyers want her appeal in court to be transferred to a judge who is not affiliated to the BJP. Everyone knows that one party in this country cannot accept defeat and is most ungracious when it loses. No matter how definitive the verdict, this party refuses to accept that it has been beaten. It will continue to try and change the verdict through backchannels, tricks, underhand tactics. What it does not realize is that every such step is further alienating the party from the common people. But does it care? It has money power and the government machinery at its beck and call.
C.K.R. Nathan,
Ghaziabad