Supreme Court Takes Charge of Caste Certificate Scam Cases in West Bengal MBBS Admissions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday took over the petitions concerning a conflict between two benches of the Calcutta High Court regarding the demand for a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the issuance of caste certificates for candidates seeking reserved category seats.

A Constitution bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, comprising five judges, has opted to transfer all cases pertaining to the issue to its jurisdiction. The bench has issued a directive for the completion of pleadings within a three-week timeframe.

“We will list the pleas exactly after three weeks,” said the bench which also comprised justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose.

The top court bench had earlier sat on a holiday on January 27 to address the dispute where a defiant judge overruled an order of a division bench that had quashed his direction for a CBI probe and asked the central agency to go ahead with the investigation.

In a bid to resolve a piquant judicial situation, the bench on Saturday had decided to "take charge" and stay all proceedings in a tussle between the two benches of the Calcutta High Court over institution of a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had accused brother judge Soumen Sen of the division bench of pandering to the interests of West Bengal's ruling party to overrule his order for a CBI probe

(With PTI inputs)