Five-Judge Bench comprising Hon'ble Chief Justice, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.R. Gavai, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surya Kant and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Aniruddha Bose have been constituted on 27.01.2024 (Saturday) at 10:30 a.m. for hearing SMW(C) No. 1 of 2024 titled “In Re: Orders of Calcutta High Court dated 24.01.2024 and 25.01.2024 and ancillary issues”

The said problem originated from a petition submitted to the Calcutta High Court, asserting that there is widespread fabrication of caste certificates in the state. The petitioner claimed that numerous individuals have acquired these fraudulent certificates to secure admission to medical courses.

Recently, Justice Gangopadhyay issued an order directing the West Bengal Police to transfer documents pertaining to the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Minutes after said order was passed, the Advocate General Kishore Datta mentioned the matter before a division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar, which stayed the single-judge's order on the same day.

Later that same day, Justice Gangopadhyay revisited the issue and instructed the Attorney General (AG) to provide the case papers to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He emphasized that he had not been informed of the stay order issued by the division bench.

Later, the division bench reexamined the case and overturned the order issued by Justice Gangopadhyay.

Today, January 25, the single-judge revisited the issue and queried the Attorney General (AG) about the rule that permits a division bench to stay the order of a single-judge, especially when there was no memo of appeal. The order documented that the AG contended he was not obligated to respond to this question, citing that the single-judge's court is considered lower compared to the division bench.

The single-judge remarked that there was no urgency for the division bench to stay his order and pointed out that Justice Sen was considered an 'interested party' in the matter.

Click here to Read the official Notification