The Supreme Court took strong exception on Monday to sitting Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay giving an interview to news channel ABP Ananda about Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha ruled that judges have no business giving television interviews to news channels about pending cases, and that if they do, the concerned judge will be barred from hearing the case.
In light of the foregoing, the bench called for a report on the matter from the Calcutta High Court.
“The registrar general of Calcutta HC is directed to personally verify from Justice Ganguly as to whether he had been interviewed by Mr Suman De and in that event clarify. The Registrar General shall file affidavit before Friday before Registar Judicial of this court,” the bench directed.
The Court was hearing an appeal by Banerjee against the High Court’s order calling for probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The petitioner presented the Apex Court with a transcript of the judge’s interview.
The Supreme Court had previously stayed the April 13 judgment ordering a central agency investigation into Banerjee’s alleged role in irregularities in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff at government schools.
Banerjee claimed during a public meeting on March 29 that people in ED and CBI custody were pressured into naming him as a suspect in the case.
Following that, another accused in the case, Kuntal Ghosh, claimed that investigators were pressuring him to take Banerjee’s name. Ghosh was detained by the ED after his arrest until February 2, and then by the CBI from February 20 to February 23.
An appeal was filed, alleging that the High Court cast “unsubstantiated aspersions” on Banerjee and effectively directed the CBI and ED to launch an investigation into him despite the fact that he was neither a party nor connected to the writ petition under consideration.
In his petition, Banerjee also stated that Justice Gangopadhyay, who passed the order, had expressed his dislike for the TMC leader in an interview with a news channel in September 2022.
It was also claimed that the judge made disparaging remarks about Supreme Court justices who were hearing appeals of his order in the case. This came after the Supreme Court had previously requested an interim stay on the High Court’s order authorizing CBI and ED investigations into the accused.
Justice Gangopadhyay reportedly asked in open court during a hearing, “Supreme Court judges can do whatever they want?” “Does this look like a Zamindari?”
The SLP stated in this context,
“The fact that judicial orders passed by the highest court of the land, are not only under scrutiny but criticism in the most cavalier manner by the said Ld. Single Judge, calls for intervention by this Hon’ble Court so as to ensure that the majesty of the Institution is maintained and the faith which a common man deposes in it stands strong.”
