Following his announcement to resign on Tuesday, Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay stated that he will carefully consider his options before deciding which political party to join.

• The Honourable Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court has declared his intention to tender his resignation on Tuesday.
• Additionally, he has expressed his intention to determine which political party he will join following his resignation.
• There is speculation that he may run for the Lok Sabha elections on a ticket from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court, whose decisions on a range of education-related matters in West Bengal sparked political discussions, has declared that he will step down from his position on Tuesday. He has stated that he will decide which political party to join.

His comments coincided with rumors that he would be put forward by the BJP as their nominee from the Tamluk parliamentary seat in West Bengal. Suvendu Adhikari previously held this seat, which is currently held by his brother Dibyendu Adhikari.

“I am resigning from the post of a judge in the Calcutta High Court… This is the call of my conscience. Now, I should go to the larger people and larger area. In court, a judge deals with the matters which come before him if a person files a case. But in our country and also in our state, West Bengal, there are a large number of very helpless people,” he said.

Entering politics, according to Justice Gangopadhyay, “can give people who want to take steps in respect of those helpless people a chance to act for them”.
He added that throughout the previous two years, he had been handling matters pertaining to education, and “a huge corruption was discovered and unearthed”.
“Many prominent figures in this government’s education sector are currently either awaiting trial or incarcerated. After that, I’m currently focusing on labor-related issues. Employers have also engaged in significant provident fund gratuity schemes. In such regards, I have also issued some directives. However, I have failed in handling labor concerns and labor legislation since I believed that this was my obligation.

NOTICE OF JUSTICE GANGOPADHYAY’S RESIGNATION

Justice Gangopadhyay announced on Sunday that he will be sending a letter of resignation to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud of India, President Droupadi Murmu, and Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.

“These days I will not do any justice work, I will just remove all the cases listed with me,” he stated.
He stated that following his resignation, he will respond to all questions from the media on Tuesday at 1:30 pm in front of the statue of the late liberation warrior Masterda Surya Sen in front of the high court buildings.

OPPOSITION REACTIONS
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut commented on Justice Gangopadhyay’s decision to resign from the Calcutta High Court, saying, “If sitting judges of the High Court and Supreme Court resign and join a particular political party, it means they were not delivering justice, but working for the party.”
Similar feelings were expressed by his party colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi, who urged Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud to take notice.