“Determined”, “fearless” and “different” are words one often hears when talking of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. They were on display recently when the 61-year-old judge from the Calcutta HC found himself at the centre of a storm.
On April 28, the Supreme Court transferred two cases related to the West Bengal recruitment scam being heard by Justice Gangopadhyay to another judge. It was an unprecedented development.
The trigger for this was the judge’s interview with a Bengali TV channel in which he allegedly made some remarks against Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Justice Gangopadhyay had also ordered the CBI and the ED to question Abhishek, following which the latter approached the Supreme Court.
“Judges have no business granting interviews to television or whatever channels on matters which are pending before them,” the bench said, hearing Abhishek’s petition in which he raised the TV interview as well.
Miffed at the development, Justice Gangopadhyay registered a suo motu case and issued orders to the SC’s Registrar General to provide him copies of the documents furnished to the top court for the sake of transparency.
The SC was left with no option but to set up a special bench on the night of April 28 to stay his order. Initially, it was feared Justice Gangopadhyay may again throw down the gauntlet but apparently better sense prevailed and he said he would “abide” by the SC order.
Justice Gangopadhyay might have earned a stern rebuke but lawyers who know him have nothing but praise, saying the judge is fair and strict on matters concerning corruption.
“He has zero tolerance, in the strictest sense, for corruption,” advocate Firdous Samim of the Calcutta High Court said.
Son of a lawyer, he graduated from Calcutta University’s Hazra Law College. He started his career as a Grade A officer of the West Bengal Civil Services but subsequently resigned and started his practice as a lawyer in the High Court.
Justice Gangopadhyay was elevated as an additional judge to the High Court in 2018 and made permanent in 2020.
The judge, who passed a series of orders on a CBI probe into recruitment scam cases, faced open boycott by the lawyers’ body and the ruling TMC even protested outside his courtroom. His orders led to various arrests and unearthing of the huge job-for-bribe scams.
After the Supreme Court’s order, out of 12 cases related to the recruitment scam where a CBI probe was ordered, two have been reassigned to Justice Amrita Sinha.
Samim said 10 such cases are still with him now.
“There are four (education) cases in the court: primary, secondary and higher secondary, college, and university. The primary (education) cases are with Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. My own matters in Justice Gangopadhyay’s court are six,” he said.
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, senior lawyer and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP, termed the judge “honest” and “sincere”.
“As a lawyer, I am very happy to say that after a long time the proactive role of judges is visible in cases against corruption, and this instance (of him) is unique,” he said.
“Otherwise, cases continued for years. What happened to other cases concerning corruption? Where did they go? We don’t know. This is the first time we are seeing the judicial activism of a judge applied for achieving social justice.”
Samim said the judge is a “different person” and “people like him create history”.
With regard to his interview with a TV channel, the lawyer said it is a broad subject with divergent views on whether a judge should be involved in public affairs at all, attend social functions et cetera. “Personally, I feel, judges should stay in society, alienation is not proper,” he added.
Justice Gangopadhyay defended his actions. “I am not feeling bad,” he told reporters speaking outside the HC. “This case I didn’t start with any personal objective. Whether it stays with me or goes to anyone else, it’s not a concern...I am not resigning. I am not the one who runs away. I have worked with my style of functioning, the one who comes next will work with his style of functioning.”
Supreme Court advocate Kabir Bose, who is also associated with BJP legal cell, said in a polarised state like West Bengal, where political parties are at war with each other, Justice Gangopadhyay has done his work fearlessly.
“While on the bench, a judge exercises his judicial mind. It is not right to comment on his decisions, judgements and type of orders,” he said.
“We have seen the corrupt being taken to task. We have seen a mountain of cash being recovered. He has done it fearlessly for the rights of several teachers who are on strike for years. Ultimately what would happen in a court of law is a matter of time and trial. We have seen videos where Justice Gangopadhyay was shouted down and boycotted in his court. All this goes on to show that he must have been doing something right,” he said.
(With inputs from Mohammed Safi Shamsi from Kolkata)