Though even after 75 years of Independence the representation of women both at the Bar and the Bench has been meagre, we have numerous examples of women who have fought all odds to emerge as a winner in this male-dominated profession and who have made a name for themselves. This column is an ode to such fighters.
JUSTICE MOUSHUMI BHATTACHARYA
Born on 27th October, 1967, Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya did her schooling from Loreto House, Calcutta, and B.A. with Honours in English from Jadavpur University. Thereafter, she completed her LL.B. (5-year course) from the University of Calcutta in 1996. She went on to pursue her LL.M. in 1999 at the University of Cambridge with Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. She was awarded the Certificate of Qualification in February 2006 by the National Committee on Accreditation, Canada, after completing the prescribed course of studies and passing the required examinations.
On 19th November, 1997, Justice Bhattacharya enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of West Bengal. She practised in the High Court of Calcutta, as well as the Supreme Court of India, High Court of Delhi, High Court of Judicature at Patna, High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, Company Law Board, Debt Recovery Tribunal, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Copyright Board, Intellectual Property Appellate Board and Securities Appellate Tribunal. Her primary areas of practice were civil, company, arbitration, and constitutional matters with specialisation in corporate and intellectual property law matters.
On 21st September, 2017, Justice Bhattacharya was elevated to the Bench of the High Court at Calcutta as an Additional Judge; and was appointed as the Permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court on 16th September, 2019.
Notable Judgments
In December 2023, a single Bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya held that clause (d) to the Proviso to Rule 5(1) of the West Bengal Excise Rules, 2009, was unconstitutional since it exempted public limited companies from payment of license fees for “change in management,” while levying the same from private limited companies. In striking off the ‘unconstitutional and discriminatory provisions’ under the Excise Rules, the Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal State Excise Department to refund a sum of approximately Rs 92 lakhs to the Kenilworth Hotel Private Limited, which was levied as excise fees for ‘change in management’ upon the death or retirement of a member.
In another case, a single Bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya, in dismissing a plea for appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 as time-barred, held that Section 43(4) of the 1996 Act must defer to the provisions of the Limitation Act, and that the period of limitation cannot be extended to create a new window after the expiry of the limitation.
In October 2023, the vacation bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Bibhas Ranjan De, restrained the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) from uprooting 700 trees for constructing a Metro station in the city’s Maidan area. Hearing a PIL by People United for Better Living in Calcutta (PUBLIC), a non-profit, non-political citizen action group, the Bench said that indiscriminate chopping of trees should be prevented as the Maidan undisputedly served as lungs for the city rather than just being an open space.
In May 2023, a single Bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya, while upholding the decision of an Insurance Company which denied compensation under an accident insurance policy, observed that a death caused by a mosquito bite would not be counted as an “accident” and hence, the same would not be covered as an insurable claim under the ‘Accident’ insurance.