Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay was biased against me; didn't add to glory of Court: Abhishek Banerjee to Calcutta High Court

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee told the Calcutta High Court on Friday that Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay was biased against him while calling for a probe into his role in the school jobs-for-cash scam [Abhishek Banerjee v. Soumen Nandy]. .The TMC leader made the submissions before Justice Amrita Sinha, who is hearing his application to recall the order passed on April 13 by Justice Gangopadhyay ordering the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe his role in the scam.Through his counsel, Banerjee said that the ED did not make any prayer or pleading against the TMC leader."The judge, however, said in his order that there was some connection between my client's speech and the complaints made by accused Kuntal Ghosh. One needs to question as to on what basis were these findings arrived at? He made some observations but based on what material? It was an ex-parte order," Banerjee's lawyer argued. .The application filed by the ED that was heard by Justice Gangopadhyay was not for a probe against Banerjee, but rather dealt with complaints made by Ghosh against some investigating officers, he added."The judge digressed from one point to the other. Thus, I have alleged bias against the judge and that is why the Supreme Court has transferred probe from him," the counsel submitted..Citing some orders of the Supreme Court, the counsel submitted that judges cannot hear cases beyond the roster. "If the judge in the instant case desired that the present matter be heard by him, he could have at best passed an order to place the case papers before the Chief Justice for transferring cases to himself. But such a thing never happened in the instant case," he argued.The judge went on air to speak about Banerjee and wanted to issue a contempt notice to him, but couldn't do so, as a division bench already took up my matter, he continued."Please note that the Supreme Court has removed the matter from that judge's (Justice Gangopadhyay's) board. This doesn't add to the glory of our High Court. It doesn't add to the glory of our traditions. A transfer is done in rare cases and not in the usual course. The top court has taken stern action against the judge for his conduct. All this reflects bias on his part.".Meanwhile, the counsel representing both the CBI and the ED sought adjournment as they needed proper instructions.After they sought adjournment, counsel for Banerjee urged the Court to pass an interim order asking the central agencies not to take any coercive action against his client."After the order passed on April 13, the CBI had issued a notice to me. But the same has been kept in abeyance after the Supreme Court stayed the order on April 19," the counsel told the judge. At this, Justice Sinha sought to know if the agency has taken any action or step after keeping the notice in abeyance. The counsel responded in the negative, to which, the judge said, "Then there is no need to be apprehensive. There is no need of any interim order as such. But even if they take some step, I am here, this court functions 24X7, you can approach the court anytime."The matter will next be heard on Monday, May 15.Meanwhile, the Court today rejected a review petition filed by the State against the order passed by the High Court, transferring the probe in the school jobs for cash scam, to the CBI and the ED..The Supreme Court had on April 28 ordered the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to reassign the case from Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay's bench to some other bench as the judge had given an interview to ABP Ananda against Banerjee.A notification was issued by the High Court on May 1 pursuant to the top court's order."The Writ Petitions, all application filed in the writ petitions and any further application/s that may be filed including Review Application/s are assigned to Justice Amrita Sinha," the notification said.A bench comprising of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha of the Supreme Court had passed an order on April 28 to reassign the case to some other judge in light of the fact that Justice Gangopadhyay had given an interview to news channel ABP Ananda regarding Banerjee even as the case concerning to the TMC leader was being heard by him.In its order, the Supreme Court had said,"Having considered the note prepared by Justice Gangopadhyay and also perused the transcript of the interview, the transcript has been authenticated on April 26, 2023 by the interpreting officer on the original side of the High Court, we direct the admin Chief Justice shall reassign the pending proceedings in the case to some other judge of the Calcutta High Court."The judge to whom proceedings are reassigned would be at liberty to take up all applications moved in that regard, the apex court had added.The said order was passed on a plea by Banerjee against the High Court's order calling for probe against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).The top court had previously stayed the April 13 judgment ordering a probe by the central agencies into Banerjee's alleged role in irregularities in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff at government schools.During a public meeting on March 29, Banerjee had alleged that persons in ED and CBI custody were pressurized into naming him as part of the case.Subsequently, another accused in the case, Kuntal Ghosh, had also alleged that he was being pressured by investigators to take the name of Banerjee. Ghosh was in ED custody after his arrest till February 2, and was in CBI custody from February 20 to 23.An appeal was filed claiming that the High Court cast "unsubstantiated aspersions" on Banerjee and effectively directed the CBI and ED to initiate investigation against him, despite the fact that he was neither a party nor connected to the writ petition being heard.Banerjee in his plea further highlighted that Justice Gangopadhyay, who passed the order, had expressed his dislike for the TMC leader in an interview given to a news channel last September.