A large number of lawyers and common people gathered in the courtroom on Monday, meant to be the last working day of Justice Gangopadhyay at the High Court.
Justice Gangopadhyay, who said that he would join politics and could also contest the Lok Sabha elections, entered the courtroom at 2.36 pm on Monday. With a smile on his face and folded hands, he greeted those present in the courtroom. In the next 10 minutes before heading out, he released over 60 matters that were part-heard in his bench and passed one order in which he referred a matter to the chief justice of the high court.
As he began to preside over the day’s proceedings, a lawyer said, “Don’t leave us.”
Justice Gangopadhyay responded with a smile. “My work is done here. I also have some other work to do. I have completed my job.”
He then said: “I am dropping all the cases. Write it down. I only want to see one case… In this matter, a vigilance inquiry was conducted by the registrar vigilance of this court. The report shows very, very serious allegations against the district judge. I request the chief justice to look into the report and take steps in accordance with the law. In my view, if the report is found to be true and correct, the district judge should be removed from her service. Now, allow me to leave.”
As he got up from the chair, a lawyer said: “We won’t leave you. We want your lordship here in the courtroom. For more than 34 years, you have been here,” said a lawyer.
The judge corrected the lawyer. “For 29-30 years, I have been here. I have other work,” he said.
As he sought permission from everyone to leave the courtroom, a woman raised her hand. With tears in her eyes, she said in Bengali, “Sir, aami apnar paa chue pronam korte chai (I want to touch your feet). It is because of you that my son is getting treatment. I have come to see you here today after I came to know about your decision to resign. I don’t know what will happen now since you are leaving. I will forever be in your debt. Please bless me. You remember my husband had got many false cases filed against me?”
As Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay didn’t allow her to touch his feet, the woman, who identified herself as Mitali Haldar Das, said she took a bus from Bolpur at 3 am to see him today.
“Oh! You are that lady from Bolpur? How is your child now?… Don’t worry, there will be someone else here,” Justice Gangopadhyay told her.
Soon a lawyer walked towards the dais and said, “We are unfortunate that you are leaving.”
Suddenly a woman said weepingly: “Hearing of my case is over. Only the order is pending. Now you are going. Where will I go? This room has been a temple for people like us. Why are you going sir? Please don’t,” the woman, who later identified herself as Krishna Chatterjee from Dhanbad, said.
“Someone else will come and do it… Don’t worry,” Justice Gangopadhyay assured her before leaving the courtroom. He had earlier said that he would resign on Tuesday.
For more than two years, both in his judicial orders and in media interviews, Justice Gangopadhyay has attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its leaders. His courtroom, too, has been witness to acrimonious exchanges with lawyers questioning his propriety while the judge himself has made allegations against his senior colleagues, accusing one of them of working for “some political party.”
“The Calcutta High Court has a history of 150 years, but no judge was ever called a god. It is his personal choice but many who had high hopes from him feel shattered today,” said a senior advocate.
“He won people’s hearts. But I feel that if everyone joins politics, then who will be there to hear us? I cleared the TeT exam in 2014 and I am yet to get the job. With Justice Gangopadhyay quitting, I don’t know which door to knock on… It was because of him I had the fighting spirit left in me,” said a job seeker Mita Sen Rokhi.
The judge, who is due to retire in August, has been at the centre of controversy. He had issued several directives, instructing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe allegations of irregularities in the recruitment processes in the West Bengal government.
Justice Gangopadhyay, who practised law at the high court for 24 years, joined the Calcutta High Court as additional judge on May 2, 2018. He was elevated as permanent judge on July 30, 2020, according to data on the high court’s website.