‘Wanted to Discard a Corrupt System’: Abhijit Gangopadhyay

MP4, Dec 4, 2025, KOLKATA: Hours after the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench set aside his earlier order cancelling the appointment of 32,000 primary teachers, former judge and current BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay said he had “no reaction” to the verdict and that it was not for him to comment on a judicial decision. Gangopadhyay, now the MP from Tamluk, is in Delhi for the Winter Session of Parliament and could not be reached over the phone.

Speaking briefly to a YouTube channel, he said: “I have no right to give any opinion. The Division Bench has given its judgment after considering everything.” Asked later by reporters about the Bench’s decision to restore all 32,000 jobs, Gangopadhyay replied: “If the Division Bench believes this is the way people should be protected, then I will say the Division Bench has done the right thing.”

He added, however, that during his tenure he believed the recruitment system had been deeply compromised. “I had thought that those who committed corruption, the way jobs were sold, the whole system needed to be discarded,” he said. “But the Division Bench has done what it felt was appropriate,” he added.

On whether he was disappointed by the ruling, the former judge said: “No. The Division Bench will give its own judgment, naturally.”