After conflict between Calcutta HC judges, SC transfers petitions to itself in admissions scam

The Supreme Court on Monday transferred to itself all proceedings related to a case that saw a conflict between two judges of the Calcutta High Court, Bar and Bench reported.

The five-judge Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter in the High Court on January 26, and held a special hearing the next day. It stayed all proceedings pending before both benches of the High Court and issued notices to the West Bengal government and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in medical admissions in state-run colleges in West Bengal. On January 24, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the High Court had ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged irregularities, even though the petitioner had not made such a demand.

Later that day, the Trinamool Congress government in the state moved the division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar that stayed the single-judge bench’s order.

However, on the same afternoon, Gangopadhyay allowed the documents of the case to be handed over to the CBI. On January 25, Gangopadhyay passed another directive stating that the division bench’s stay order should be ignored, even though legal precedent requires that a single judge must comply with the order of a larger bench.

Gangopadhyay also accused Sen of being an “interested party”.

On Monday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, told the Supreme Court that Justice Gangopadhyay had passed similar orders earlier as well, Live Law reported. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, however, urged him not to cast aspersions on an individual judge.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that the manner in which the division bench of the Calcutta High Court stayed the single judge’s order was objectionable as it entertained without an appeal memo.

The Supreme Court will again hear the case after three weeks.