The Supreme Court passed adverse orders against Abhijit Gangopadhyay, the judge of Calcutta High Court over his squabble with the West Bengal school jobs scam.
The judge was hailed as a “crusader against corruption” by his supporters and condemned for surpassing his brief by detractors. The apex court passed the orders against him for his controversial TV interview about West Bengal’s School Service Recruitment (SSC) case.
The Supreme Court recruitment scam was reassigned to another Calcutta High Court judge because of a TV interview with a Bengali news channel where Justice Gangopadhyay discussed pending matters and criticized the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the state government.
Partha Chatterjee, the former education minister, and several leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have been implicated in this high-profile case.
D.Y. Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) ordered T.S. Sivagnanam, the acting Chief Justice of India to reassign the case, involving alleged irregularities in the appointments of staff in West Bengal government-run schools from Gangopadhyay bench.
The same day, a separate top court bench also stayed Justice Gangopadhyay’s order asking the SC secretary general to present to him the translation of the interview’s transcript that was placed before the CJI.
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Petition by TMC MP, Abhishek Banerjee
The top court orders came in the wake of a petition filed by Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress MP and the nephew of Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. He said that Justice Gangopadhyay made statements against him in an interview last September with the Bengali TV news channel ABP Ananda. The SC also noted that the judge had “no business” speaking to the media about the case last week.
Judge Abhijit had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question the alleged illegal appointment of non-teaching staff by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.
As he left the premises of the Calcutta High Court late Friday night, Justice Gangopadhyay told media persons that he had seen the Supreme Court’s order but did not intend to back down. “I am waiting for legal advice. But I have a feeling, like today, all the corruption cases will be moved away from my bench. I will not step down, I won’t run away,” he declared.
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