Supreme Court Takes Over Bengal Case After Judge vs Judge In High Court

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today decided to transfer all proceedings related to alleged irregularities in issuing Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) certificates in West Bengal from the Calcutta High Court to itself. The decision was made during a hearing in which the top court asked the West Bengal government to submit an affidavit detailing the current status of the investigation into these cases.

A five-judge Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, has directed the completion of pleadings within three weeks.

The decision comes in the wake of a dispute between two benches of the Calcutta High Court, primarily centered around the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the purported irregularities in the issuance of caste certificates for candidates seeking reserved category seats. 

The Constitution bench, which also includes justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, announced its intention to hear the pleas after the stipulated three-week period.

On January 27, a Supreme Court bench convened on a holiday to address a judge’s overruling of a division bench’s decision. The division bench had quashed the judge’s directive for a CBI investigation, instructing the central agency to proceed with the probe. In response, the Constitution bench, seeking to resolve the judicial discord, decided to take charge and stayed all proceedings related to the tussle in the Calcutta High Court.

The crux of the matter involves Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay accusing his fellow judge Soumen Sen of the division bench of favouring the interests of the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to overturn his order for a CBI investigation. The Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice Chandrachud, refrained from making any allegations against the High Court judges involved.

During the proceedings, Kapil Sibal, representing the Mamata government, stated that judges continued to take up such cases, and this practice would persist in the future. Despite Mr Sibal’s request, Chief Justice Chandrachud refused to restrain Justice Gangopadhyaya from hearing politically sensitive cases. 

Chief Justice Chandrachud said they were dealing with a High Court judge and clarified that any statements made during the proceedings should not undermine the dignity of the Calcutta High Court.