Journalism of Courage
Hours after resigning as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on March 5 announced that he will be joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu with copies to CJI DY Chandrachud and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC TS Sivagnanam, news agency PTI reported.
On March 4 — Justice Gangopadhyay’s last working day — Room Number 17 of the Calcutta High Court witnessed emotional scenes as a large number of lawmakers and common people gathered.
Justice Gangopadhyay Sunday announced that he would be entering the field of politics. When asked which party he was likely to join, he mentioned Congress, Left, the BJP and “smaller parties”, however, left out the Trinamool Congress.
For over two years, both in his judicial orders and in media interviews, Justice Gangopadhyay has attacked the ruling TMC and its leaders.
A High Court judge since May 2018, Justice Gangopadhyay has sparked rows by ignoring orders of larger Benches, giving an interview to a television channel, and issuing directions to the Supreme Court registry. Since 2022, he has passed several orders directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate the alleged school jobs scam in West Bengal.
