Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, has reportedly announced hanging up his boots to take a dip into the political swamp. He has been in the news more often than his other brothers on the bench for boldly taking on the state government’s various scams, in particular the teachers’ recruitment scam, which has deeply embarrassed the state government.
His on-and-off chair comments have also often drawn the scorn and rebuke of the ruling party spokespersons, who have dared him to disrobe and enter the political arena for a direct bout. The judge has been undeterred by the criticisms and has emerged as a beacon of hope and justice for many thousands of aggrieved people who have been deprived of their rightful entitlements. But for the one who has been sitting on the high pedestal of a High Court judge’s chair and handling critical issues, stepping down to become a commoner to tackle the illegalities could pose a problem.
To begin, he can have no political future as an independent without the backing of a major party. Secondly, he has been fighting the ruling Trinamool party, openly and often breaching the judicial borderline and hence he would not be welcome into the party. Thirdly, the left usually stays away from the emotional admissions of past celebrities. His joining Congress is ruled out for that will push him into political oblivion. He has only the BJP left, which could admit him and give him a ticket to fight the Lok Sabha elections. If rumours are to be believed, he might be fighting the elections in Tamluk on a BJP ticket.
There have been precedents of justices joining political parties, but most did so after retirement, the last being the CJI, Ranjan Gogoi. But he had many predecessors, justices accepting key nominations—governorship, ambassadors., etc.—besides the coveted membership to the upper house, like Justices P. Sadasivan, Fazal Ali, Fathima Beevi, M.C. Chagla (CJ of Mumbai Court), K.S. Hegde, A.N. Ray, M. Hidayatullah, Bahrul Islam, and Ranganath Mishra. Justice Abhijit Ganguly has opened a new era of shunning a nomination to the Rajya Sabha but resigning his judgeship and fighting elections, which could be a better and more welcome option.
The voters have seldom come forward and rewarded performers, like in the case of T.N. Seshan, who was the architect of election reforms in India but lost the elections badly. It will be thus interesting to watch Justice Ganguly’s post-judicial tenure to see if he can continue to whip the demon of corruption and scams, sometimes overriding his party’s political stand and alliance dharma. My best wishes to the judge.
The play is about to begin.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
