Justice G.C. De of Calcutta High Court, who delivered last week’s judgment in the Anuradha Saha death case, has received an anonymous letter threatening him with “dire consequences” for acquitting the three city doctors of charges of medical negligence.

The judge displayed a hand-written letter in court on Thursday, when the lawyer appearing for Kunal Saha, US-based doctor and Anuradha’s husband, asked for a copy of the March 19 judgment from him.

The lawyer, Pijush Dutta, told the court that reports concerning the judgment published in a section of the media suggested his client was responsible for his wife’s death.

“The reports have put my client in agony and he has been spending sleepless nights since he read the news reports,” Dutta added.

After hearing out the counsel, Justice De asked one of his bearers to bring “the letter” levelling accusations against him and threatening him.

The judge then displayed the letter in the open court and said: “We are least bothered about newspaper reports. As public servants, we discharge our responsibilities true to our belief and conscience. We need not care about what others say. Your client, too, should not be worried about it.”

The judge, however, assured Dutta that he would give him a copy of the judgment soon.

Justice De last week had allowed the appeal filed by two city doctors — Sukumar Mukherjee and Baidyanath Haldar — against the trial court’s verdict convicting them in the Anuradha Saha death case.

The judge refused to entertain Saha’s plea to increase the lower court’s three-month sentence for the two doctors and overturn the acquittal of the third accused doctor, Abani Roy Chowdhury, by the trial court.

Saha, meanwhile, has written a letter to Chief Justice A.K. Mathur, alleging that eight days had passed since the high court judge had issued the order but he was yet to receive a copy of the judgment.

“Unless I get a copy of the court order, I cannot appeal to a higher court against the verdict of the high court judge,” Saha has stated in his letter.

During a telephonic conversation with Metro from the US, Kunal Saha said: “I have heard that the judgment has made several observations holding me responsible for my wife’s death.

“Unless I get a copy of the judgment, it is impossible for me to determine the truth of the news reports. It is strange that even after completing all the relevant formalities, I have not got the copy of the judgment yet.”

Anuradha Saha died in May 1998 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital, following a few days of treatment at Calcutta’s Advanced Medical Research Institute under Sukumar Mukherjee and Baidyanath Haldar. Abani Ray Chowdhury was on the panel of doctors in an advisory capacity.