“Judges have no business granting interviews on matters which are pending,” Supreme Court on Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay remarks against Abhishek Banerjee

Today, the Supreme Court of India was hearing the plea against the order passed by the Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay regarding Primary Teacher’s Recruitment Scam. The judge directed the ED and the CBI to question TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee for the same. A division bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha orally remarked that judges did not have any right to give TV interviews on pending cases. The bench further added that “I just want to say it, judges have no business granting interviews on matters which are pending. If he said that about the petitioner, he has no business participating in the proceedings. The question is whether a judge who has made statements like these about a political personality - should he be allowed to participate in the hearings? There has to be some process.”

In the previous hearing, the top Court bench stayed the order passed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay against Abhijit Banerjee. During the hearing today, Senior Advocate appearing for Banerjee, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, urged the court to consider the interview given by the Calcutta HC judge with ABP Ananda. In the interview, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay allegedly spoke against Banerjee. He further argued that “With the greatest respect and humility, this just cannot be done…This was said in presence of our lawyers. The single judge has not clarified or revoked the statement.” In this context, the Supreme Court ordered “The petitioner has annexed a translated transcript of an interview of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on a TV Channel ABP Ananda. The Registrar General of Calcutta HC is directed to clarify from the judge as to whether he had been interviewed by Mr. Suman De. The registrar general is directed to file his affidavit before this court on or before Friday. We’ll list on Friday.”