SC removes Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay from all hearings in Bengal Primary Teachers' Recruitment scam case

The Supreme Court on Friday removed Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay from all hearings in the Bengal primary teachers' recruitment scam case. The apex court has directed the chief justice of Calcutta High Court to reassign all the cases to a new judge.

New Delhi: In a significant move, the Supreme Court has removed Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay from all proceedings related to ‘Primary Teachers' Recruitment Corruption Cases’ in West Bengal. The Supreme Court has directed the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to reassign the pending proceedings in the case to another judge. The decision made by a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices M R Shah and S Ravindra Bhat also said that the new judge will be free to consider all applications related to the case.

The decision came after a petition was filed against the Calcutta High Court's recent order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress general secretary, in connection with the "bribes for jobs" scam. The petitioners have raised concerns about the impartiality of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who made some remarks about Banerjee during an interview related to the case.

The Calcutta High Court had earlier directed that Banerjee should be questioned by the ED and the CBI and that such "interrogation should be made soon." The observation came while hearing a petition relating to the case. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had taken note of a public meeting held by Banerjee on March 29, 2023, where he allegedly urged that some persons who were in police custody confided that they were being forced to mention the name of ‘Abhishek Banerjee’.

Justice Gangopadhyay also took note of the account that Kuntal Ghosh – a TMC leader arrested in connection with the recruitment scam alleged that he was being pressured by investigators to take the name of Banerjee. Gangopadhyay said that the matter should be enquired and investigated whether Kuntal Ghosh took the cue from the public speech of said Abhishek Banerjee. He suggested that both of them can be interrogated both by ED and by CBI.

The petitioners had argued that Justice Gangopadhyay's statements against Banerjee during an interview suggest bias and prejudice on his part. They have also expressed doubts about the fairness of the ongoing investigation, given the involvement of central agencies in a politically sensitive case.

The "bribes for jobs" scam is a major corruption case that has rocked West Bengal's political establishment. It is alleged that several influential people, including some politicians, were involved in a racket that promised government jobs in exchange of bribes. Abhishek Banerjee's name has come up in the investigation, and Gangopadhyay had directed the CBI and ED have been directed to question him in this regard.