On Tuesday (5th March), former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay announced his decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This comes after he resigned this morning.
On his last day as a high court judge, Justice Gangopadhyay told media outside the court that he had sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, and Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court TS Sivagnanam.
#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal | Former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay says, "Maybe on 7th (March) in the afternoon. There is a tentative program, when I will join BJP." pic.twitter.com/IoMosl7PVJ
— ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2024
Confirming that he is joining the BJP on 7th March, Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that the BJP is the only party capable of challenging the Trinamool Congress. Regarding his role inside the party, Gangopadhyay stated that the decision would be made by the party’s top leadership.
“BJP is the only all-India party that is fighting against a bad party like the TMC. The BJP high command will decide what my role will be. TMC spokespersons have time and again slammed me. They don’t know that they can’t say such things to a judge,” Gangopadhyay said.
“Modi hardworking, Congress run by one family”
The former judge lauded Prime Minister Modi calling him a “very hardworking man”. Meanwhile, he also slammed the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress. Gangopadhyay said that he believes in God while the communists advocate for a state-less, religion-less society. For the Congress party, he said that is the “Zamindari” of one family.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay: PM Narendra Modi is a good, hardworking man! He is trying to do something good for our country. Time will say if I get the support from all quarters like I have been getting before. In my opinion, TMC is equivalent to corruption.
— Law Today (@LawTodayLive) March 5, 2024
“Trinamool is imploding… it means corruption. PM Modi is a very good, hardworking man and he is trying to do something for this country,” he declared and took swipes at the other opposition parties, “I believe in God and religion, but CPIM does not and the Congress is the zamindari of one family,” the former judge said.
Attacking TMC, he said, “I took this decision in the past 7 days. My understanding is that this TMC is crumbling from the inside. It won’t last long. They have made it a fashion to attack judges, but now all their scams will slowly come out.”
Interestingly, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ‘thanked’ the Trinamool Congress for challenging him to enter politics. “I don’t believe that Trinamool Congress is a political party. It is a jatra party. It is full of corruption. There are a few good people in the party, but they join often not knowing the true character of this party.”
Decision to resign, “call of conscience”
Speaking to ANI on 3rd March, Gangopadhyay said that his decision to resign from his position as a judge in Calcutta High Court was a “call of conscience”.
“…Resign from the post of a judge in High Court Calcutta. For the last two or more years I have been dealing with some matters, especially education matters, regarding which a huge corruption has been discovered and unearthed. A large number of important persons in the education sector of this government are now languishing in jail, under trial. Thereafter, now I am taking labour matters. There also large scams of employers in respect of provident fund gratuity, etc. I have also passed certain orders in those respects.”
#WATCH | Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay says, "…Resign from the post of a judge in High Court Calcutta. For the last two or more years I have been dealing with some matters, especially education matters, regarding which a huge corruption has been discovered and unearthed. A large… pic.twitter.com/A4EvVzQVMw
— ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2024
“But what I have failed while doing these matters of labour matters, labour legislation, that I have felt that my job in this duty, my job is over. This is the call of my conscience. Now I should go to the larger people, larger area. In court, a judge deals with the matters which come before him if a person files a case. But in our country and also in our state, West Bengal, there are a large number of very helpless people. Which I have found…So I have thought that only the political field can give people who want to take steps in respect of those helpless people a chance to act for them…” Gangopadhyay continued.
Notably, speculations are rife that Abhijit Gangopadhyay could contest the Tamluk seat on BJP ticket, which has been a bastion of the ruling TMC in recent elections.
About Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay
A High Court judge since May 2018, Justice Gangopadhyay had issued multiple directives to the central probing agencies – Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) asking them to investigate alleged irregularities in the recruitment of both teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools.
Evidently, in 2022, Justice Gangopadhyay directed the CBI to probe an alleged recruitment scam.
Additionally, Justice Gangopadhyay had once accused Justice Soumen Sen of “acting for a political party in the State”. The development unfolded after Justice Sen, part of a Division Bench, stayed an order by Justice Gangopadhyay in which the latter had directed the West Bengal Police to hand over documents related to a case to the CBI.
Following Justice Sen’s stay, Justice Gangopadhyay then took up the matter again. Subsequently, he ordered the Advocate General to hand over the case papers to the CBI and insisted that he wasn’t informed of the stay order passed by the division bench.
Further in his order, Justice Gangopadhay had also accused Justice Sen of pressuring another Justice not to take a tough stance against TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee. According to the allegation, Justice Amrita Sinha was presiding over cases involving TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee. Justice Sen then summoned Justice Sinha to his chambers and advised her not to disturb Abhishek Banerjee, citing his political future.
