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High Court judge gives midnight deadline, Supreme Court questions discipline
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered Supreme Court official to provide his television interview transcript by today midnight.
The Supreme Court held a special sitting at 8pm on Friday to hear an unusual order passed by JJustice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta high court. Earlier in the day, Justice Gangopadhyay passed an order directing Supreme Court's secretary general to provide him with some documents pertaining to an issue by midnight. At Supreme Court's 8pm sitting, the top court overruled the Calcutta high court judge's order and said the order from the high court judge to the Supreme Court official was not proper in the view of "judicial discipline".
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has been hearing the cases of primary teachers' recruitment in West Bengal. On Friday, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud directed that the case be transferred from Gangopadhyay's bench because Gangopadhyay appeared in a television interview and spoke on the issue that he is hearing.
Following this order, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay passed a suo moti order asking the Supreme Court official to produce before him the translation of the interview which was placed before the CJI by midnight today. The interview was on a Bengali news channel.
“For the sake of transparency, I direct the Secretary General of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to produce before me the report and the official translation of the interview given by me in media and the affidavit of the Registrar General of this Court in original, forthwith by 12 midnight today. This is required for the sake of transparency. I will be waiting in my chamber till 12:15 in the midnight to get the two sets in original placed before the Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court today,” Justice Gangopadhyay's order said.
(With inputs from PTI, LiveLaw)
