Kolkata: Barely hours after submitting his resignation Tuesday as a high court judge to the President, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay confirmed that he would be joining the BJP on 7 March.
The timing of his resignation cannot be missed as he was set to retire in August from the Calcutta High Court where he became a permanent judge in 2020. Further, he will be joining the BJP just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-ruled West Bengal.
In an interview late Monday night, Justice Gangopadhyay told ThePrint that his “mind wasn’t in his work” for the past few months.
On the directions of the Supreme Court, the Calcutta High Court had reassigned all matters related to the alleged school recruitment irregularities from the court of Justice Gangopadhyay to a fresh bench in November last year.
The action came after the top court expressed displeasure with him for an interview to a television news channel.
His orders in the alleged school job-for-bribe scam in West Bengal government schools had made him a sensation both in and outside the Calcutta High Court. It was his directions that led to the arrest of then heavyweight minister Partha Chatterjee in the case.
“I want to work for the people. When you’re a judge, you have to wait for the problems to come before the bench to hear people’s voices. But now I can work for the people proactively,” he told ThePrint.
Without brushing away murmurs of his political debut, ahead of the high-voltage 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Justice Gangopadhyay said he could join an NGO or do ”something else” to directly connect with the people.
He had ruled out joining the ruling Trinamool in Bengal a day before.
A practicing advocate of the High Court for over 29 years, he was appointed as an acting judge of the Calcutta HC in 2018.
“West Bengal is going to the bottom with each passing day. The state used to be amongst the top three at one time. Education, health, infrastructure — we are lagging in every aspect. So if anyone wants to bring a change, they need to get directly involved to work,” he said.
While clarifying that his move shouldn’t be seen as judiciary and politics collusion, he told The Print if anyone wants to challenge his rulings, they are welcome to do so.
In the meantime, people lined up outside his chamber to wish him luck, with some clicking selfies while others sharing their books and collection of poems on his last day in the high court on Monday.
Lawyers, too, made a beeline to seek blessings from him. Justice Gangopadhyay, however, remarked to his admirers that he wasn’t feeling emotional, which, he claimed, wasn’t his own expectation.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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