Lawyers seek apology from Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay for insulting Advocate General

Over 250 lawyers have signed a letter addressed to Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam of the Calcutta High Court condemning the allegedly demeaning and insulting remarks made by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay towards West Bengal Advocate General Kishore Datta on January 25..The alleged incident took place last week when Justice Gangopadhyay was hearing a case concerning a caste certificate scam, which had also led to a controversial rift between the single judge and a division bench led by Justice Soumen Sen. .In their letter dated January 29, the lawyers alleged that during a hearing of the matter last week, Justice Gangopadhyay made several defamatory statements against Datta.Lawyers added that the comments made by Justice Gangopadhyay were uncalled for and that he had transgressed all limits of decorum by hurling insults and insinuations at the Advocate General."We refrain from delving into the developments in connection with the aforesaid proceeding, save to point out that on 25th January 2024, when His Lordship was apprised by the Learned Advocate General of the orders dated 24th January the Hon'ble Division Bench passed in M. A. T. No. 192 of 2024 and M. A. T No. 793 of 2024, the Hon'ble Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay became incensed and made extremely uncharitable, demeaning and defamatory comments about the Learned Advocate General," the letter said..Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court: No stranger to controversy.The manner of disrespect shown to such a Constitutional functionary is indicative of the total lack of true faith and allegiance by Justice Gangopadhyay to the Constitution of India itself, the letter went on to say."Whatever has fallen from the Hon'ble Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on 25th January targeting the Learned Advocate General is unacceptable to the entire body of advocates practicing in the State of West Bengal," it was stated further..The lawyers further highlighted that the High Court is built on time honoured traditions including cordiality between the Bar and the Bench. While so, the Advocate General holds a position of great eminence, reverence and esteem, the letter said. .The lawyers have now urged Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam to take immediate steps to redeem the honor and dignity of the Court by seeking an apology from Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay."The majesty and dignity of this Hon'ble Court have been severely affected by the aforesaid conduct of the Hon'ble judge towards the leader of the Bar i.e., the Learned Advocate General. Such an unsavory incident cannot be recalled ever, in the annals of this Hon'ble Court," the letter said..Meanwhile, the caste certificate scam case, which had triggered the controversial exchange was transferred to the Supreme Court yesterday. The matter is rooted in a petition filed before the High Court alleging the issuance of fake caste certificates in West Bengal.It first came up before Justice Gangopadhyay who ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter, only for this order to be stayed the same day by a division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar.Regardless, Justice Gangopadhyay proceeded to allow the handover of the case papers to the CBI the same afternoon, while recording that there was no intimation by the State counsel of the division bench's stay order.The next day (January 25), Justice Gangopadhyay passed another order, indicating that the division bench's stay order ought to be ignored. The said order also contained several diatribes against Justice Sen who was accused of being an "interested party."It was during this hearing that the single judge allegedly insulted Advocate General Datta.Justice Gangopadhyay also alleged in his January 25 order that Justice Sen had called another Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Amrita Sinha, to his chambers and told her that Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has a political future that should not be disturbed by means of judicial orders.The division bench headed by Justice Sen, meanwhile, passed another order on January 25 criticising the order passed by Justice Gangopadhyay and ordered the CBI to hand the case papers back to the State.The Supreme Court took cognisance of the rift a day later and and eventually stayed the proceedings before both the single-judge and division bench of the High Court.On January 29, the top court informed that it would be hearing the case hereafter. .[Read Letter]