For God's sake, go

For Mr Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, the only course open is to resign. And immediately. Yes, cut your losses, as the Americans would say, and go. Otherwise he will be made to go by a vigilant Bar and a more vigilant public. He has already inflicted enough damage on the fair name of the Bombay High Court by what appears to be a clever subterfuge to launder illicit funds. The so-called royalty received by him from a non-existent overseas publisher is most probably nothing but a 'havala' transaction. As reports from London maintain, the publishing firm which remitted him $80,000 in royalty payment for a 100-page booklet does not exist. At least not at the address where Bhattacharjee insists it did.

The same non-existent firm, he explains, offered him another $70, 000 for his second booklet, but he claims that he declined the offer. By, so doing Bhattacharjee has further exposed himself. For, if there was nothing hanky-panky in receiving a large sum in royalty for his first magnum opus, there ought to have been nothing amiss either in getting a fat cheque for the second. The truth is that after he received the first instalment of laundered funds some people got wind of the scam. And the 'Hon'ble' Chief Justice of Bombay developed cold feet. Hence his reluctance to accept the second payment. But what really gives his game away is his offer now to return even the first payment.