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Three orders in 1 day in legal drama over Calcutta HC judge
In an interview, justice Gangopadhyay justified his orders on a probe by CBI, saying there appeared “rampant corruption” in the teachers’ recruitment process.
Following a day full of drama, the Supreme Court on Friday first took away a bunch of politically sensitive cases in West Bengal from Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, and hours later, stayed the judge’s unusual directive seeking a report from the top court’s secretary general regarding the documents that formed the basis of its order.
At around 12.15pm on Friday, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, ordered that the acting chief justice of the high court shall transfer the cases relating to alleged irregularities in the recruitment by West Bengal School Service Commission from justice Gangopadhyay to some other judge in view of a report received from the registrar general of the high court.
Even as it remarked that nobody should try to browbeat judges anywhere in the country, the bench, which also comprised justice PS Narasimha, 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 TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, against whom the judge passed a judicial order too.
Also Read: ‘No business giving interviews on pending cases': Supreme Court to judges
Considering the authenticated transcript of the TV interview and a note submitted by justice Gangopadhyay to the registrar general of the high court, the bench directed that acting chief justice should reassign the pending proceedings in the case to some other judge of the high court.
In an interview to ABP Ananda aired last September, justice Gangopadhyay justified his orders on a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (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 judiciary was hand in gloves with the opposition BJP. He was “fearless” and even if the Supreme Court criticises him and he is removed from judiciary, he will stand by what he has done because “corruption has destroyed India”, the judge added, perhaps aware that his behaviour would be frowned upon by the top court.
Banerjee on Monday brought the TV interview and its transcript on record before the Supreme Court bench, citing an order of the high court judge asking CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to probe the TMC leader in connection with the recruitment scam case.
However, hours after the Supreme Court order on Friday, justice Gangopadhyay initiated a suo motu proceeding, calling for the official transcript of the interview to be placed before him by the secretary general of the Supreme Court, for which he said he will wait till 12.15am in his chamber.
“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,” said his order.
Justice Gangopadhyay’s order in turn prompted the Supreme Court to initiate a suo motu proceeding to stay the operation of his order. A special bench comprising justice AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli sat at 8pm and held that “judicial discipline” required justice Gangopadhyay to desist from passing the impugned order. The bench stayed his order seeking a report from the secretary general and made this direction absolute.
Justice Gangopadhyay said he was neither disappointed by the Supreme Court’s move nor would he step down or compromise on the issue of corruption. “But I think the rest of the cases (related to the job scam) will be taken away from me on the same ground,” he said.
“There is something called discipline. The Supreme Court’s order must be followed. Some other judge will hear these cases. The hearings may take place for seven years in place of seven months. Some citizens may feel disappointed but they must have faith,” he added.
On April 24, the CJI-led bench had observed that judges should not give interviews to news outlets on matters pending before them, asking the high court registrar to verify from justice Gangopadhyay as to whether he gave the impugned interview and further clarify his statements as recorded in the video.
The Supreme Court order on reassignment of the case to another bench triggered strong reactions in Bengal.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar described justice Gangopadhyay as a crusader against corruption. Majumdar said: “The Supreme Court’s order is unfortunate. It will disappoint the people of Bengal to whom justice Gangopadhyay was a crusader against corruption. His verdicts gave hope to common people. The Supreme Court can take any decision. We cannot question it. But the TMC has no reasons to rejoice because the cases will continue, and its leaders will land in jail.”
Former Supreme Court judge Asok Kumar Ganguly said: “As far as I understand the Constitution, a high court is not subordinate to the Supreme Court. So, the essence of the order should not be misinterpreted. It was passed in view of the television interview.”
Banerjee, who had filed the petition before the Supreme Court, said: “We have highest respect for the high court and the Supreme Court. Those who are involved in this corruption must be punished. CBI and ED are carrying out investigations. However, we expect courts to order federal agency probes in Bengal in special cases, not at random.”
