The judge, who is due to retire in August, has been at the centre of controversy for his frequent remarks against his own colleagues, the ruling TMC and its leader Abhishek Banerjee.
“I will enter the field of politics. I am not telling you today which party I will begin with. I want to first finish the little work that is still left in court. Tomorrow, I will wrap that up. I will verbally inform the Chief Justice. And the day-after morning, I will send my resignation to the President in the first hour,” Justice Gangopadhyay said in an interview with Bengali TV news channel ABP Ananda.
Although the judge is yet to tender his resignation formally, his announcement came a day after the BJP announced its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls including some from West Bengal.
Justice Gangopadhyay, whose TV interviews in the past attracted the ire of the Supreme Court, said that barbs from the TMC prompted him to join politics.
“For this, I have to congratulate our ruling party: whenever I have tried to do justice, if they have not liked it, they have used their various spokespersons to make insulting and taunting statements against the judge and the judiciary,” he said.
Asked which party he is likely to join, he mentioned Congress, Left, the BJP and “smaller parties.”
“I did not mention Trinamool among the parties whose names I took. I have said that West Bengal under the Trinamool is an empire of thieves (chourjyasamrajya). There is no question of joining that party. I can see that the party is gradually falling behind, breaking up… The major question is the dignity (maryada) of West Bengal, which has hit rock bottom, whether it is possible to save West Bengal,” he said.
In the last two years, Justice Gangopadhyay’s courtroom has seen several dramatic scenes with the judge openly sparring with lawyers representing the state government and the TMC leader.
In an hour-long interview to ABP Ananda in September 2022, the judge had openly questioned the financials of Abhishek Banerjee and in a separate, unrelated case made an oral remark about a “bhaipo (nephew)” amassing wealth. This comment had led to TMC MP Kunal Ghosh’s statement that the judge should resign and contest an election against Abhishek Banerjee.
In the interview Sunday, Justice Gangopadhyay said his last day at the Calcutta High Court would be Monday, March 4, and that he would send his resignation letter to the President on Tuesday, March 5.
Criticising the ruling TMC, he said corruption was rampant in the state. He also said that he was not able to reach out to the common people from the courtroom.
“As a Bengali, I cannot accept this. Those who emerged as rulers did not seem to be able to benefit the kingdom. I will take the challenge and I have decided to resign on Tuesday. On Monday, I will be in court as I have lots of cases on hand,” he said.
Justice Gangopadhyay has been at the centre of the controversy in the recent past, ordering investigation by Central agencies in the recruitment scam, questioning the slow pace of investigation and asking agencies to apprehend the “real culprits”.
In several judgments, Justice Gangopadhyay has directed investigating agencies to file FIRs by the end of the day and question known faces, ministers or chairpersons of a board or recruitment body by midnight or within a set deadline.
Reacting to the judge;s announcement Sunday, TMC state spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya said, “We have been saying for long that he is a political party worker. We thank him today for proving us right.”
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar welcomed Justice Gangopadhyay’s decision to join politics. “People like Abhijit Gangopadhyay joining politics is something that is in the country’s favour. I guess the BJP would be his natural choice,” he said.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party would welcome Justice Gangopadhyay. “He is a crusader against corruption. If he wants to join the Congress, we will give him a warm welcome. He is a fighter. If he joins the BJP, then ideologically we can’t support (him).” Chowdhury had once said that he would like Justice Gangopadhyay to be the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
State Minister Firhad Hakim said that such acts were slowly making people lose their faith in the judiciary. “Judiciary has respect. We see the judge next to god. What he (Gangopadhyay) is doing is his personal choice… There are many such examples, slowly people are losing trust in the judiciary,” he said
Justice Gangopadhyay was a lawyer at Calcutta High Court before he was appointed as Additional Judge in May 2018. In 2020, he was promoted as a permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court.