© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court who on Sunday announced his resignation from the judiciary on Tuesday has had run-ins with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for almost two years now.
The judge who is up for retirement later this year said he would submit his resignation to the President on Tuesday and send a copy to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. Hinting he may foray into electoral politics, Justice Gangopadhyay said, “I will resign from the post of Justice of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday and answer all your queries on that day.”
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.
These orders and the repeated run-ins with the West Bengal government kept the spotlight on the judge. The alleged scam saw Justice Gangopadhyay order CBI investigations and terminating more than 32,000 appointments of teachers. A Division Bench later stayed the order.
In September 2022, Justice Gangopadhyay who was then hearing a batch of pleas in connection with the alleged school jobs scam gave an interview to Bengali news channel ABP Ananda. He openly questioned the finances of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, the ruling party’s second-in-command and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew. In a separate, unrelated case he made an oral remark about a “bhaipo (nephew)” amassing wealth.
Objecting to the interview, the Supreme Court observed that sitting judges should not give interviews to TV channels. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud sought a report from the Registrar General of the Calcutta High Court verifying whether he had given an interview. The top court also made it clear that Justice Gangopadhyay would not be allowed to continue hearing petitions related to the alleged scam if he had given the interview. Eventually, the CJI ordered the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to assign the matter to another Bench.
But, within a few hours of the Supreme Court’s order, Justice Gangopadhyay suo motu passed an order directing the Secretary General of the Supreme Court to furnish the report and the official translation of his interview. Justice Gangopadhyay’s suo motu order forced the top court to have a special late evening sitting to stay it. A Division Bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli observed that the High Court judge’s order was “against judicial discipline”. He responded to this with, “Supreme Court jug jug jiyo (Long live Supreme Court).”
While his relations with the state government soured, his orders were appreciated by school job aspirants demanding a probe into the alleged scam. His pursuit of the alleged scam saw him being called “Aranyadeb (Phantom)” and “crusader” and also being accused of playing into the hands of the BJP in the politically charged state.
In January, Justice Gangopadhyay hit the headlines after he accused fellow High Court judge Soumen Sen of “acting for a political party in the state” after the latter, who was part of a Division Bench, stayed his order directing the police to hand over case documents to the CBI. The case was about alleged “irregularities” in MBBS admissions in the state.
After the stay, Justice Gangopadhyay took up the matter again and directed the state Advocate General to hand over the case documents to the central agency while insisting that he was not informed of the Division Bench’s stay order. Despite the petitioner not seeking a CBI investigation, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered a probe to be conducted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI.
He also alleged that Justice Sen had called Justice Amrita Sinha, who was hearing matters involving Abhishek Banerjee, to his chambers and allegedly instructed her that Abhishek must not be disturbed as he has a political future. The Supreme Court took cognisance of the defiance of the Division Bench order and transferred the case to itself.
During the hearing in the case, the judge also had an altercation with Advocate General Kishore Dutta and almost a fortnight he apologised to him.
Born in 1962 in Kolkata, Justice Gangopadhyay attended Mitra Institution (Main), a Bengali-medium school in south Kolkata. He completed his graduation from Hazra Law College in Kolkata, during which he took part in Bengali theatre. After his graduation, he began his career as a West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) Grade-A officer in Uttar Dinajpur district. He subsequently quit the civil service and began practising as a state advocate in the Calcutta High Court. He was elevated to the post of additional judge in 2018 and became a permanent judge two years later.
