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Congress’ Bagchi slams Singhvi for representing Abhishek Banerjee in SC
Referring to the political struggle Congress workers are facing in Bengal, Bagchi wrote: “Workers and leaders of West Bengal Pradesh Congress unequivocally say that we are ashamed of you.”
West Bengal Congress leader Koustav Bagchi on Sunday criticised senior lawyer and party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi for representing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) national secretary Abhishek Banerjee before the Supreme Court in a case related to the bribe-for-job scam.
The cases relate to the alleged multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run schools in West Bengal.
Bagchi, who is also a Calcutta high court lawyer representing victims of the appointment scam, shot an e-mail to Singhvi on Sunday.
He wrote: “I am constrained to write this instant letter as workers and leaders of West Bengal Pradesh Congress are in soup because of you. As a professional and a senior advocate, you have every right to choose your brief and you have absolute discretion in choosing your clients. But as a senior leader of the Congress, you cannot absolutely ignore your obligations towards the party and its workers.”
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A screenshot of the e-mail was circulated on social media.
The e-mail neither mentioned Abhishek Banerjee nor the details of the case.
Referring to the political struggle Congress workers are facing in Bengal, Bagchi wrote: “Workers and leaders of West Bengal Pradesh Congress unequivocally say that we are ashamed of you.”
Bagchi told the media that he was not scared of any repercussions. “I will raise my voice again if something like this happens,” he said.
HT contacted Singhvi on WhatsApp for his reaction but there was no response.
On Friday, the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha passed an order asking the Calcutta high court’s acting chief justice to reassign another judge to hear two cases related to irregularities in the recruitment of primary school teachers by the West Bengal government.
The cases were being heard by justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay who ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the appointments in May 2022.
The Supreme Court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee who was represented by Singhvi.
The bench said that the direction was being passed in the wake of a video interview of justice Gangopadhyay on the proceedings pending before him, apart from certain statements made by him about Banerjee, against whom the judge passed a judicial order too.
In an interview aired last September, justice Gangopadhyay justified his orders on a probe by CBI, saying there appeared “rampant corruption” in the teachers’ recruitment process.
The high court judge also said TMC general secretary Banerjee could face a jail term of three months for alleging that a section of the judiciary was hand in gloves with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The reassigning of the hearings triggered strong reactions in West Bengal with all opposition parties hitting the streets with some BJP leaders calling the Supreme Court’s order unfortunate.
