Three sitting Judges of Alipore Court, in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, have alleged they were threatened inside the chamber of the District Judge by an impostor posing as a Cabinet Minister.
The three judicial officers, in a letter, brought the issue to the notice of the District Judge and the President of the West Bengal Judicial Service Association, alleging intimidation, attempted interference and the exertion of extraneous influence, following an incident dated September 24, 2026.
After the vehicle of the three Judges was blocked at New Alipore by the driver of a private vehicle, the Judges were called to the chamber of the District Judge on September 25, 2026, on the pretext that the vehicle’s owner, a doctor, would apologise for his driver’s conduct.
In their letter, a copy of which has been accessed by The Hindu, the judicial officers said the doctor was accompanied at the meeting by a man identified as Sudipta Roy Chowdhury, who introduced himself as a Cabinet Minister and public servant, and repeated his designation throughout the meeting.
“During the meeting, he repeatedly made telephone calls to various persons and addressed them as ‘Dada’ and ‘Didi’, while referring to them by the names of higher-ranking Judicial Officers, thereby creating an atmosphere of influence and intimidation and apparently seeking to impress upon us his proximity to and access to such authorities,” the letter, signed by the three Judges, states. It noted that the statements were made in the presence of the District Judge In-Charge and the Registrar of Alipore Court on that day.
The three Judges who have alleged intimidation are Souvik De, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, 3rd Court, Alipore, South 24 Parganas; Monikuntala Roy, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, 8th Court, Alipore, South 24 Parganas; and Mahezabeen Afrin Parween, Judicial Magistrate, 6th Court, Alipore, South 24 Parganas.
The letter does not reveal the identity of the doctor. The Judges said that after returning to their chambers following the meeting, “being deeply disturbed by the manner in which we had been addressed and allegedly intimidated, and our dignity put at stake,” they searched the internet for information on Mr. Chowdhury.
The judicial officers found that he was not a Cabinet Minister or a public servant, as he had repeatedly claimed, and that his name had figured as an accused in the Rose Valley-related investigation, in which he had reportedly remained in custody for a considerable period during an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“We respectfully submit that the entire episode has left the three of us, including two lady Judicial Officers, under a continuing sense of fear, pressure and insecurity. The earlier complaint itself records the genuine apprehension caused by the original threat,” the letter states.
Along with several newspaper reports relating to Mr. Chowdhury’s arrest, and the police complaint made to the Officer-in-Charge of New Alipore police station relating to the obstruction of the vehicle on September 24, 2026, the three judicial officers have submitted a storage chip containing most of the conversation that took place at the District Judge’s chamber on September 25, 2026.
“We make this representation not out of any desire for personal redress, but because we are Judicial Officers in the rank and file of the subordinate judiciary and cannot discharge our judicial functions freely if threats, extraneous influence and fear of reprisal are allowed to operate upon us. We respectfully submit that the independence of the subordinate judiciary cannot be permitted to become vulnerable to the influence of an alleged broker or intermediary or impostor,” the Judges wrote, seeking appropriate steps against the impostor.
Published – October 03, 2026 11:02 am IST
