Supreme Court to Address Conflict Between Calcutta HC Judges Over CBI Probe in WB Medical Admissions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, has taken suo motu cognisance of an order issued by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court. The order, deemed illicit by Justice Gangopadhyay, disregarded a decision by a division bench that had stayed the single bench's directive for a CBI inquiry into alleged irregularities in medical college admissions in West Bengal.

A special sitting of a five-judge Supreme Court bench, including Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, is scheduled to meet today,on Saturday, to address the matter. The controversy is about the conflicting decisions of Justice Gangopadhyay and the division bench presided over by Justice Soumen Sen on the clash of decisions within the Calcutta High Court regarding a CBI probe into fake caste certificates for medical admission tests issued by the Bengal government.

Gangopadhyay, in his order, had justified ignoring the division bench's stay by asserting it a result of an illegal appeal from the outset. He underlined having no alternative but to disregard the order, citing various reasons, including the ground of 'interested person' in the case of Justice Soumen Sen.

Further, the Calcutta HC Judge had raised concerns about the alleged political bias of Justice Soumen Sen. He questioned Sen's pending transfer to the Odisha High Court and his purported role in directing another judge, Justice Amrita Sinha, to dismiss all cases related to AITC MP Abhishek Banerjee. The order had also requested Chief Justice Chandrachud to investigate these issues.