The Supreme Court has put a halt to proceedings in the Calcutta High Court, where a rare conflict emerged between a single judge and a division bench. The disagreement revolves around a CBI probe into an alleged fake caste certificate scam. On January 24 and 25, the two benches exchanged reproaches through consecutive orders.
A special hearing before a five-judge constitution bench, including CJI DY Chandrachud, justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, took place. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on January 29.
The issue originated with Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay directing a CBI probe into irregularities in the admission of MBBS candidates in West Bengal's medical colleges and hospitals. This decision was prompted by a plea from MBBS candidate Itisha Soren, expressing a lack of faith in the state police.
Subsequently, the West Bengal government appealed to the division bench of the Calcutta High Court, consisting of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar. The division bench stayed the single bench's order for a CBI probe.
Justice Gangopadhyay, in response, deemed the division bench's order as entirely illegal and something to be disregarded. He questioned the legitimacy of the order, pointing out the absence of a memo of appeal and raising concerns about how a stay order could be passed without the impugned order.
Furthermore, Justice Gangopadhyay accused Justice Sen, the head of the division bench, of acting in favor of a political party in the state. Consequently, he asserted that the Supreme Court may need to reevaluate the orders passed by Justice Sen's bench if deemed necessary.
