Medical Admission Irregularities | Calcutta HC Single-Judge Alleges Misconduct By Judge Who Presided Over Division Bench Which Stayed Order For CBI Probe

In an unusual development, a single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has alleged misconduct by Justice Soumen Sen, who presided over a division bench which stayed the single bench's order for a CBI probe into alleged irregularities during admissions to medical colleges in West Bengal. 

On Wednesday, a division bench of Justices Soumen Sen & Uday Kumar had stayed the single bench's order calling for a CBI probe upon noting that such a probe was not sought in the prayers of the original writ petitioners and that the State may be allowed to complete its own investigation and submit its's progress reports.

Due to alleged miscommunication, the order was not communicated to Justice Gangopadhyay by the State on the same date.

Notably, the division bench had asked the High Court Registrar General to submit a report explaining why the division bench's stay order had not been communicated to the single bench in time.

Remarkably, in an order passed yesterday (Thursday), and available on the HC server around midnight, Justice Gangopadhyay has accused Justice Sen of misconduct, and possessing political bias due to his orders staying the CBI probe.

It was noted that the division bench had no power to consider the appeal without a server copy of the single-bench order or memo of appeal.

Justice Gangopadhyay said: No rule has been shown to me that an appeal can be preferred and the order can be passed thereon in this High Court without the impugned order and without the memorandum of appeal. By passing an order without the impugned order and without the memorandum of appeal, the said Division Bench has given a very wrong signal What Justice Sen has done today is to advance the cause of his personal interest to save some political party in power in this State. Therefore, his actions clearly tantamount to misconduct.

Justice Gangopadhyay went on to cast further aspersions on Justice Sen, observing that the latter had allegedly summoned another Judge, Justice Amrita Sinha to his chambers and directed her to 'immediately stop live streaming her court, and drop writ petitions involving Abhishek Banerjee which were pending before her court.'

Justice Gangopadhyay observed that this alleged incident had been reported to Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, who reported it to the Chief Justice of India.

Astoundingly, Justice Gangopadhyay also alleged that Justice Soumen Sen was under an order of transfer for more than two years, from 2021, and had allegedly defied the Collegium's recommendation for his transfer to Odisha High Court.

Who are the persons behind him, who are saving him from such transfer whereby the order of the Supreme Court Collegium can be ignored while the other Hon'ble Judges have been transferred by the same recommendation? the Judge asked and requested the Chief Justice of India, Justice (Dr) DY Chandrachud to look into the same.

Accordingly, the single bench of Justice Gangopadhyay opined that the division bench's stay order was illegal and did not recognise the same.

I have no other option but to ignore the order of the said Division Bench as the order has been passed in continuation of the illegal appeal void ab initio. I have ignored the said illegal order passed by the said Division Bench for the reasons as has been stated above including the ground of 'interested person Hon'ble Justice Soumen Sen, it concluded.

It further directed the CBI to immediately begin its investigation in line with the single-bench order.

Case: Ishita Soren v Union of India

Case No: WPA 22150 of 2023

Click here to read single bench order 1