Attempts being made to terrorise the judiciary in WB: Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay

Kolkata, Jan 10 (IANS) Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who had been in the headlines during the entire 2022 for his judgements and observations in the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal, said on Tuesday that attempts are being made to terrorise the judiciary in the state.

Reacting to the developments of the last couple of days over the continuing ruckus outside the court of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court and complaints against a section of lawyers of resisting their colleagues from entering his court, Justice Gangopadhyay said that the recent developments are unprecedented in the history of the high court.

"I have been acting as a judge in the Calcutta High Court for the last five years. Before that, I had practiced as an advocate in the same court. But I have never witnessed such things before. There is a clear attempt to terrorise the judiciary in the state," Justice Gangopadhyay told mediapersons outside his court on Thursday.

However, he refused to name any particular political party as responsible for this ruckus. He also slammed the incident of posters slamming Justice Mantha being recovered from near the latter's residence in south Kolkata on Monday morning, saying that those responsible for this should be tracked and punished.

Criticising the recent developments, former Supreme Court judge, Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly (Retd) said that the great judicial system of the country is not that fragile that it will get affected by such acts of some 'rowdy' elements.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Police Commissioner, Vineet Kumar Goyal, said on Tuesday that the city police have started a detailed investigation to find out those responsible for the postering incident near Justice Mantha's residence.

No one has been arrested so far in the matter.

A political slugfest has also erupted over the developments relating to Justice Mantha's bench.

According to BJP's national vice-president and party MP Dilip Ghosh, understanding that the judiciary is becoming the principal hurdle for its 'misdeeds' and 'corrupt activities', the Trinamool Congress is now attacking the judges of the Calcutta High Court.

Rubbishing the claims of Ghosh, Trinamool MP Saugata Roy said that his party does not have any connection with the entire development.

"But it has to be seen why there are so many grievances against the verdicts of the judge concerned," he said.