Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who has given several orders in the West Bengal recruitment scam, announced his decision to resign as judge and hinted at taking a plunge into politics ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Opposition parties, including the BJP, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress welcomed him to join their parties.
Speaking to Bengali TV news channel ABP Ananda, Justice Gangopadhyay said he would resign on March 5. An advocate of Calcutta High Court, Mr. Gangopadhyay became a permanent judge in 2019 and on 14 instances directed probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into allegations of corruption in the West Bengal school and municipal recruitment scams.
Justice Gangopadhyay thanked the Trinamool Congress and said the State’s ruling party had challenged him to come and face them politically. The announcement of resignation of Justice Gangopadhyay triggered strong reactions in political circles. State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar and CPI(M) State secretary Md. Salim all welcomed the judge to their parties. Opposition leaders said that a person with the integrity and stature of Justice Gangopadhyay would bring something good to the State and the country.
Household name
Justice Gangopadhyay has become a household name in West Bengal because of his orders in the recruitment scam. Job aspirants who have been protesting against the West Bengal government have hailed the intervention of Justice Gangopadhyay. The Trinamool Congress leadership had often targeted the judge and described his interventions as “politically motivated”. Other than his orders directing probe by Central agencies, the judge had often targeted leaders of the ruling party, including party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“Justice Gangopadhyay. Happy new innings. It is better if such people come to politics. But question - Whichever group you go to, your previous judgment, neutrality of dialogue will be questioned. As you say @AITCofficial as opposed to, the proof will be. Whichever party you go to, there will be allegations of corruption or any other. Can you accept them then?,” Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh said.
While the political circles of the State are abuzz with which party will the judge join and which seat will he contest, legal experts point that Justice Gangopadhyay’s tenure at the High Court has been eventful. Recently, the Supreme Court of India had to intervene after Justice Gangopadhyay made allegations against a senior judge in his order. A five-judge Bench of the apex court in a special hearing on January 27, 2024 stayed all proceedings before the two Benches of the High Court.
On the late evening of April 28, 2023, the Supreme Court stayed Justice Gangopadhyay’s order to place before him, by midnight, documents based on which the Supreme Court had earlier in the day reassigned a case to itself.
