All 'political orders' of Gangopadhyay should be set aside: TMC MP Banerjee
Times of India | 5 March 2024
KOLKATA: All "political orders" passed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay in school service commission cases should be struck down, senior advocate and Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee pleaded before the Calcutta HC bench hearing alleged school recruitment scam-related cases on Monday.
Banerjee, who was arguing for school job seekers, told the bench that Justice Gangopadhyay was a "political person" and the orders he had authored were done with "a political motive".
Justice Gangopadhyay said on Sunday he would be quitting the judiciary on Tuesday to fight the battle against corruption on "a bigger field" by joining politics. He refused to specify which party he would join or whether he would contest Lok Sabha elections, but BJP seniors told TOI that negotiations were on, "probably for Tamluk LS constituency".
Banerjee told the bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi that he wanted to press a formal application. "The orders (passed by Justice Gangopadhyay) should be struck down. The single judge (who passed the orders) has spoken to the media. He has given this order with a political motive. He used these orders to carve out his future political career," Banerjee told the bench. "These are not judicial orders, these are political orders," Banerjee later claimed.
Banerjee's application brought to the fore an ongoing debate in court corridors on how long a judge should wait to join politics after resigning. Justice Gangopadhyay had stressed on Sunday that he had not "adjudicated" for a week and would not pass any judicial order on his last day in court (Monday).