Chittaranjan Dey outside the Asansol court. (Gour Sharma)

Asansol, July 9: Chittaranjan Dey walks into court with measured steps, a pile of pap-ers tucked under his arm. He takes the chair in front of the judge’s bench, like any lawyer.

But Dey is different. He stands up, sensing that the judge is stepping into the room and taking his place, but cannot see him.

Dey, 64, has been visually challenged since he fell from a tree at the age of 10. Today, as a government pleader, he has at least 60 convictions under his belt.

Every morning at 10, Dey comes to the Asansol additional district and sessions court, holding his teenager son’s hand. Once on the premises, he finds his way to the courtroom.

“Initially, no one would come to me,” he said.

The first case came through a senior. It was on behalf of a man charged with unlawful possession of railway property.

“To my surprise, I obtained bail for the man in my first appearance,” Dey said. He had told the judge: “This is my first appearance… I pray for bail.”

Thirty-three years on, he feels “the judge was sympathetic towards me”.

The case had fetched him a princely Rs 150. “I gave it to my mother. She was the one who taught me to fight,” said Dey.

It wasn’t easy going. “I could not refer to law books readily during a hearing. I had to strain myself to remember the relevant passages,” he said.

“Then I felt nervous and my legs trembled. Now, I know the books by heart.”

In 1983, he became a lawyer for the government. He is still a public prosecutor, earning Rs 650 for a case.

“As a government lawyer, I managed 60 convictions,” he said, but could not take all the credit himself. “My wife Maya and clerk Samir Bose help me study the case diaries.”

Samir is in awe of “Sir’s memory”.

Trying to pluck a mango from a frail branch at his Jamuria home, Dey had injured his head. He remained unconscious for two days. “When I regained consciousness, I had lost my vision. My world crumbled around me.”

But he picked up the pieces fast. He was admitted to Blind School in Behala in 1957. Five years later, when he was in Class VIII, Dey was admitted to the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys’ Academy at Narendrapur. He graduated in history from the Ramakrishna Mission College in 1970 and studied law after finishing his post-graduation from Calcutta University.

The Asansol Bar Association has decided to felicitate Dey in September for his “outstanding achievement”.

“Chittranjanbabu has set an example for all of us,” said association president Shekhar Kundu. “Young people in our profession should learn from him how to fight against odds in life. We salute him.”