"He Is A Contesting Candidate": Calcutta HC Cites SC's Kejriwal Interim Bail Order To Stay FIR Against Its Former Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay

The FIR against Gangopadhyay stemmed from allegations of assaulting dismissed school employees during a protest. These employees had lost their jobs following a ruling by the Calcutta High Court in a case related to school jobs obtained through corruption.

The incident allegedly occurred on May 4 during a rally led by Gangopadhyay and BJP colleague Suvendu Adhikari, prior to Gangopadhyay submitting his nomination papers for the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat.

The Bench referred to the Supreme Court order granting interim bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal during the Lok Sabha elections. The High Court noted the Supreme Court's consideration of the magnitude of the general elections involving millions of voters.

A Bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh held, “Having considered the view of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Arvind Kejriwal (supra) the observation of the Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tamluk, Purba Medinipur in respect of the case diary produced before the said court on 13.05.2024, as well as the fact the petitioner no.1 is a contesting candidate from 30-Tamluk Parliamentary Constituency, I am of the opinion that so far as the petitioner no.1 is concerned, the observations of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Arvind Kejriwal (supra) squarely applies.”

Advocate Rajdeep Majumdar appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate General Kishore Dutta appeared for the Respondents.

Drawing parallels, the Court applied the Supreme Court's observations in Kejriwal's case to Gangopadhyay's situation, especially noting Gangopadhyay's candidacy for the Tamluk Parliamentary Constituency.

In light of these considerations, the single-judge ordered a stay on the FIR and all related proceedings against Gangopadhyay and the BJP general secretary of the Tamluk constituency, until June 14. The State was directed to submit its affidavit opposing the plea by June 12, the date set for the next hearing.

Cause Title: Abhijit Gangopadhyay & Anr. v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Appearance:

Petitioners: Advocates Rajdeep Mazumder, Billawadal Bhattacharyya, Moyukh Mukherjee, Pritam Roy, Anish Kr. Mukherjee, S Bhattacharjee, Sagnika Banerjee, Aishwaryya Bazaz, and Triparna Roy represented the Petitioner

Respondents: Advocate General Kishore Dutta, Senior Standing Counsel Amitesh Banerjee, along with Advocates Sirsanya Bandopadhyay, Rudrajit Sarkar, and RK Ganguly.

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