A day after the Supreme Court issued an order asking to reassign proceedings in the West Bengal teachers’ recruitment ‘scam’ to another judge, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court, who was heading a single-judge bench that was looking into these cases, said he will continue to raise his voice against “corruption”.
Several heavyweights of the ruling Trinamool Congress, including former Education minister Partha Chatterjee, are currently behind bars for alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers for government schools in the state. Hundreds of aspiring teachers have been holding a sit-in in the heart of Kolkata for several months, claiming that they were not drafted into service despite clearing the teachers’ recruitment exam. They alleged further that several undeserving candidates bagged teaching jobs despite faring poorly in the exam, in exchange for kickbacks.
Taking cognisance of an interview that Justice Ganguly gave to a vernacular news channel, in which he allegedly shared details of the proceedings in the ongoing cases pertaining to the teachers’ recruitment ‘scam’, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday issued the order.
Responding to the apex court order, Justice Gangopadhyay said, “This is not my decision. The case was shifted from my bench on the orders of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest office of justice in the country and we all need to abide by its orders.”
On whether the order has come as a blow for the protesting teaching aspirants, who are on the streets demanding jobs, Justice Gangopadhyay said, “Even if some are disheartened or disappointed by the order, there’s not much that can be done as we all have to respect the Supreme Court’s direction.”
“As long as I am in the service of justice, I’ll continue to raise my voice against irregularities and corruption,” Justice Gangopadhyay told reporters here.
On his message to the protesting job-seekers, Justice Ganguly said, “I would advise them to be patient as the matter is still in court and has only been shifted to a different judge.”
On his opinion on the apex court order, he added, “I still haven’t examined the order. I will come to a proper understanding of it once the lawyers come and give their submissions (in the matter).”
Earlier, on Friday, after taking note of the transcript of an interview given by Justice Gangopadhyay to a news channel, said Justice Gangopadhyay could not hold any further hearings in the matter and directed the Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice to reassign proceedings related to the alleged recruitment scam to another judge.