In the eye of TV interview storm, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who faced SC heat

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay is no stranger to making news, especially over his frequent tussles with the TMC-led Bengal government.

On April 24, Justice Gangopadhyay had found himself facing a Supreme Court rap, when taking exception to an interview given by him to ABP Ananda in September last year, where he was seen discussing the teachers’ recruitment scam trial in the state, the apex court bench said: “A judge has no business to give an interview about pending cases.”

The bench had then sought a report within four days from the Registrar General of the Calcutta HC on whether Justice Gangopadhyay — who ordered a CBI probe into the recruitment scam, leading to the arrest of several senior TMC leaders — gave the interview.

With the TMC often at the receiving end of Justice Gangopadhyay’s observations, its spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had then tweeted that the development in the top court “vindicated” their stand. The BJP had said the TMC should not feel too happy, given that the probe into the school jobs scam was on, with BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya saying “Their corruption has been exposed and they should feel ashamed. There is no reason to express such joy over a judicial matter”.

On April 17, the apex court had stayed Justice Gangopadhyay’s April 13 order directing the CBI and the ED to interrogate Abhishek in the case.

Who is Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay?

Appointed as Additional Judge of the Calcutta HC on May 2, 2018, Justice Gangopadhyay was made a permanent judge on July 30, 2020. Around the beginning of 2022, he ordered a CBI probe into the teacher recruitment scam, and irregularities in the recruitment process in the state.

Among the first high-profile arrests was of TMC leader and then minister Partha Chatterjee. The TMC faced the full heat of media glare when movable and immovable property worth over Rs 100 crore was linked to Chatterjee, as were bundles of unlimited cash.

More arrests followed, of senior officials of the West Bengal Education Department, including Vice-Chancellor Subiresh Bhattacharya, TMC MLA and West Bengal Board of Primary Education president Manik Bhattacharya, and TMC MLA Jiban Krishna Saha, all accused of giving teacher and non-teaching staff jobs in state-run and state-aided schools in exchange for money.

The judge ordered that the deserving candidates who had lost out and moved court be appointed.

The Interview

As pressure mounted on the TMC over corruption allegations, on September 20 last year, Justice Gangopadhyay gave an interview to ABP Ananda where he criticised the state government and also the party.

In remarks that the TMC immediately raised objection to, Justice Gangopadhyay said that the party general secretary and virtual No. 2, Abhishek Banerjee, be jailed for three months for alleging that a section of the judiciary was hand in glove with the BJP. “I am aware that after the interview, there will be controversy, but whatever I am doing is as per The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, which state that judges have the freedom of expression but that whatever they say has to be under the purview of the law,” the judge said.

Justice Gangopadhyay said he believed in “strictest action” against anyone who points a finger at the judiciary.

On Abhishek, who is a nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the judge said he was in Ladakh when the TMC MP had made comments regarding the judiciary. “I thought I would issue a ruling against him, summon him, take action. Once back in Kolkata, I found that a petition was filed in this regard, but a Division Bench did not consider it. They thought he would get extra attention. But I have a different opinion.”

Claiming he had “never compromised with corruption”, Justice Gangopadhyay had gone on to add: “I want to pass judgments which, long after I am not there, will come up before researchers, who will know that there was a judge like this.”

Courtroom Observation

On November 26 last year, during a hearing in the recruitment case, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that he might have to ask the Election Commission to cancel the recognition of the TMC as a political party and withdraw its logo. “No one has the right to (mess) with the Constitution,” he added.

The observation came after West Bengal Education Secretary Manish Jain told the court that a decision to create additional teachers’ posts to accommodate the “illegal” appointments was taken by the state Cabinet and ordered by Education Minister Bratya Basu. Jain added that he himself was not present at the said meeting.

Wondering how the Cabinet could take such a decision, Justice Gangopadhyay observed: “The state Cabinet will have to announce that they are not backing the illegal appointments and also withdraw the notification of May 19 (2022) for the creation of additional teachers’ appointments. Else, I will take such a decision that is unprecedented in the country… If necessary, I will make the entire state Cabinet a party in the matter and summon each member. If necessary, I will issue a show-cause notice to all of them.”

In a sharp response, TMC MP and advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, who was present in the court, said the judge had “no moral authority” to comment on the party as that was not the issue on which the hearing was on. “Any verbal comments made by a judge have no standing… Today he should have shown courage and given a written order on his observation. Then we would have taken it forward accordingly. A judge has wide power to run a court, but that power is not unbridled… no judge has the moral authority to make such comments. The judge needs to be disciplined and bound by law.”

Bandyopadhyay further said, “If this was a hearing based on a writ petition challenging the recognition of the TMC as a political party, this would have made sense.”

Kunal Ghosh accused Justice Gangopadhyay of “misusing his chair of a judge” to engage in political activism. Calling him “Aranyadeb Gangopadhyay” or “Phantom Gangopadhyay”, Ghosh said: “We respect the judiciary because the judges are there to ensure justice is done. They work in silence and do not engage in image building. If there is something wrong, then definitely it should be called wrong. If the state government is making mistakes, then it should be condemned. But does it mean that a judge will comment on whether a political party will be recognised or not?”

Ghosh added: “The chair of a judge cannot be used to execute one’s political wish list. What is he trying to do? Is he trying to malign the image of West Bengal? Is he trying to be a hero?… He is trying to build his image to make way for his political aspirations after retirement.”

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On January 10 this year, after Calcutta HC judge Justice Rajasekhar Mantha initiated contempt proceedings against lawyers for disrupting the functioning of his court, Justice Gangopadhyay said: “I won’t take the name of any courtroom. But it is true that attempts are being made to terrorise the judiciary system in West Bengal. Our judiciary system is not so weak that it will crumble under such attempts,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event.