Anurag Kumar
Following a day filled with drama, the Supreme Court on Friday removed a number of politically sensitive cases from Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, and then stayed the judge’s unusual directive requesting a report from the top court’s secretary general on the documents that formed the basis of its order.
A bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, ordered on Friday at 12:15 p.m. that the acting chief justice of the high court transfer the cases involving alleged irregularities in the recruitment by the West Bengal School Service Commission from justice Gangopadhyay to another judge based on a report from the registrar general of the high court.
The bench, which also included justice PS Narasimha, stated that the order was issued in response to a video interview of justice Gangopadhyay on the pending proceedings before him, as well as certain statements he made about TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, against whom the judge also issued a judicial order.
Taking into account the authenticated transcript of the television interview and a note submitted by justice Gangopadhyay to the registrar general of the high court, the bench ordered that the pending proceedings in the case be reassigned to another judge of the high court.
In an interview with ABP Ananda that aired last September, Justice Gangopadhyay defended his orders for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation by stating that there appeared to be “rampant corruption” in the recruitment of teachers.
The high court judge also stated that Banerjee could be sentenced to three months in prison for alleging that a portion of the judiciary was in league with the opposition BJP. Even if the Supreme Court criticizes him and he is removed from the judiciary, he will stand by his actions because “corruption has destroyed India,” the judge said, perhaps cognizant that his conduct would be frowned upon by the highest court.
Banerjee presented the television interview and its transcript to the Supreme Court bench on Monday, citing a high court judge’s order directing the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to investigate the TMC leader in connection with the recruiting scam case.
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However, hours after the Supreme Court’s order was issued on Friday, justice Gangopadhyay instituted a suo moto proceeding, requesting that the official transcript of the interview be presented to him by the Supreme Court’s secretary general, for which he said he would wait until 12:15 a.m. in his chamber.
“For the sake of transparency, I order the Secretary General of the Honourable Supreme Court of India to produce before me the report and the official translation of the interview I gave to the media, as well as the original affidavit of the Registrar General of this Court, by tonight at 12 a.m. This is required for the sake of openness,” stated his directive.
In response to Justice Gangopadhyay’s order, the Supreme Court initiated a proceeding of its own volition to halt the implementation of his order. At 8 p.m., a special panel comprised of justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli ruled that “judicial discipline” required justice Gangopadhyay to refrain from issuing the challenged order. The court suspended his order requesting a report from the secretary general and affirmed this directive.
Justice Gangopadhyay stated that he was unfazed by the Supreme Court’s decision and that he would not resign or compromise on the issue of corruption. “However, I believe the remaining cases (involving the job scam) will be taken away from me on the same basis,” he said.
“There is a concept known as discipline. The order of the Supreme Court must be implemented. This will be heard by a different judge. The duration of the proceedings may be extended from seven months to seven years. Some citizens may experience disappointment, but they must maintain their faith,” he added.
The CJI-led bench noted on April 24 that judges should not give interviews to news outlets on pending matters, requesting that the registrar of the high court confirm with justice Gangopadhyay whether he gave the contested interview and clarify his statements as recorded in the video.
The Supreme Court’s decision to reassign the case to a different bench sparked significant reactions in Bengal.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state president of the BJP, described Justice Gangopadhyay as a crusader against corruption. Majumdar stated, “The Supreme Court’s decision is regrettable. It will disappoint the citizens of Bengal, for whom Justice Gangopadhyay was an anti-corruption crusader. His decisions gave common people hope. The Supreme Court has the authority to render any decision. We cannot dispute it. However, the TMC has no reason to celebrate, as the cases will continue and its leaders will be incarcerated.”
According to former Supreme Court justice Asok Kumar Ganguly, a high court is not subordinate to the Supreme Court under the Constitution. Therefore, the order’s essence should not be misconstrued. In consideration of the television interview, it was approved.”
Banerjee, who submitted the petition to the Supreme Court, stated, “We hold the utmost regard for both the high court and the Supreme Court. The perpetrators of this corruption must be punished. The CBI and ED are conducting investigations. However, we anticipate that courts will only mandate federal agency investigations in Bengal in exceptional circumstances.”
