Justice Kaushik Chanda has been made a permanent judge in the Calcutta High Court. This decision was taken after the Supreme Court collegium approved his elevation from additional judge to permanent judge in the Calcutta High Court.

This elevation comes more than a month after Justice Chanda recused himself from hearing the high profile Nandigram election petition.

Justice Kaushik Chanda was initially hearing Mamata Banerjee's petition against the West Bengal Assembly election result in Nandigram. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was beaten by BJP's Suvendu Adhikari by 1,965 votes in Nandigram constituency.

However, after the first hearing in the matter, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders tweeted pictures of Justice Chanda at various BJP events in order to establish his proximity to the saffron party. They raised the possibility of bias if Justice Chanda heard the case. Mamata Banerjee's lawyer Sanjay Basu asked for the matter to be transferred out of Justice Chanda's court.

Justice Chanda then recused himself from hearing the Nandigram election petition. However, he also fined Mamata Banerjee Rs 5 lakh for portraying the judiciary in bad light.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had opposed Justice Chanda's appointment to the Calcutta High Court earlier too.

(With inputs from agencies)