Calcutta HC's Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to resign, may join politics: Report

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay is presently serving as a Calcutta high court judge.

Calcutta high court's Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Sunday announced that he would be resigning as a judge on Tuesday, adding that he will send his resignation letter to the President of India Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, and chief justice of Calcutta high court TS Sivagnanam.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay(Twitter)

While media reports suggested that Gangopadhyay would be joining politics, he refused to comment on it while speaking to journalists.

“I will resign from the post of Justice of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday…I will send my resignation letter to the President of India and a copy of the letter to the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. I do not want to say anything further on this today. I will speak,” Justice Gangopadhyay told the media outside his residence, adding that he will address all media inquiries after submitting his resignation.

Who is Abhijit Gangopadhyay?

Born in 1962 in Kolkata, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay is presently serving as a Calcutta high court judge. Gangopadhyay attended Mitra Institution (Main) - a Bengali-medium school in Kolkata. He did his graduation from Hazra Law College during which he acted in a Bengali theatre. He last acted in a play in 1986.

After his college, Gangopadhyay began his career as a West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) A-grade officer posted in North Dinajpur. He then quit the job and began practising as a state advocate in the Calcutta HC. He joined Calcutta HC as an additional judge in 2018 and was elevated to a permanent judge in 2020.

Gangopadhya's rulings on various education-related issues in the state have stirred political debates including the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal. He had issued several directives instructing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe allegations of irregularities in the recruitment processes of teaching and non-teaching staff in state government-sponsored and aided schools.