Judges Have No Business Granting Interviews On Pending Matter: Supreme Court Seeks Clarification From Calcutta HC Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay

The Supreme Court, while hearing the plea challenging the order passed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court through which he had directed the CBI and the ED to question TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for the Primary Teachers' Recruitment Scam case, orally remarked that judges had no right to give TV interviews on pending matters. The matter was heard by a Division Bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha. In the last hearing, the Apex Court had directed a stay on all actions against Banerjee in pursuance of the directions passed by Justice Gangopadhyay. Today, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Banerjee urged the court to take into account Justice Gangopadhyay's interview with ABP Ananda wherein he allegedly spoke against Banerjee. Singhvi argued–"With the greatest respect and humility, this just cannot be done...This was said in presence of our lawyers. The single judge has not clarified or revoked the statement."After reading the statement, CJI DY Chandrachud, while dictating the order sought clarification as to whether the purported statements were made by the single judge or not. The court ordered–"The petitioner has annexed a translated transcript of an interview of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on a TV Channel ABP Ananda. Registrar General of Calcutta HC is directed to clarify from the judge as to whether he had been interviewed by Mr Suman De. The registrar general is directed to file his affidavit before this court on or before Friday. We'll list on Friday."While departing with the order, CJI DY Chandrachud orally remarked that while the court was not getting into the merits of the case as of yet, it was important to know if Justice Gangopadhyay had granted the said interview or not. He said-"I just want to say it judges have no business granting interviews on matters which are pending. If he said that about the petitioner, he has no business participating in the proceedings. The question is whether a judge who has made statements like these about a political personality - should he be allowed to participate in the hearings? There has to be some process."Case Title: Abhishek Banerjee v. Soumen Nandy Diary No. 15883/2023Click Here To Read/Download Order

Judges Have No Business Granting Interviews On Pending Matter: Supreme Court Seeks Clarification From Calcutta HC Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay

Padmakshi Sharma

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