Ex-Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay joins BJP 

Former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Thursday joined the BJP in the presence of state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay stepped down as judge earlier this week. He is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections. 

Gangopadhyay had several run-ins with Trinamool Congress leaders because of his certain rulings in cases of corruption. The TMC also accused him of being 'biased' and passing judgement to hurt the ruling dispensation. The former judge had directed probe by central agencies in several cases against the TMC leaders including Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.    

After he announced that he would be entering politics, the TMC questioned his impartiality as a judge. He, however, said: "There is no moral propriety involved here because I have never done politics as a sitting judge. I never gave any political judgments which are politically biased. What judgement I gave, what orders I passed, were always on the basis of the facts which were placed before me."

"If somebody is highly corrupt and their corruption comes to light before a judge, the judge will always do the right thing by putting the entire effort into corruption to be investigated by the appropriate agency. That is what I have done. It is in nobody's (party’s favor),” he said in an interview with India Today.

"I wonder why the state of West Bengal challenged all the orders passed by me without referring that I was a political person and I was taking political decision. They never raised any such question before the Appellate Court or the Supreme Court. Now they are raising the question because they want to take the people's mind from the corruption issue."