Supreme Court Transfers Caste Certificate Scam Case from Calcutta High Court Amidst Judicial Rift

In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India has taken the unusual step of transferring all proceedings related to the caste certificate scam case from the Calcutta High Court to itself. This decision comes in the wake of a rift between two sitting judges of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Justice Soumen Sen, over the handling of the case. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, passed the order in a suo motu case titled “In Re: Orders of Calcutta High Court dated 24.01.2024 and 25.01.2024 and Ancillary Issues”.

The conflict arose when Justice Gangopadhyay passed an order for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct an inquiry into the issuance of fake caste certificates in West Bengal, a move that was stayed by a division bench headed by Justice Sen. Despite this, Justice Gangopadhyay proceeded with the handover of case papers to the CBI and later passed an order instructing to ignore the division bench’s judgment. This led to an escalation of the dispute, with accusations of bias and impropriety being traded between the judges.

In light of these events, the Supreme Court, while refraining from commenting on the clash to preserve the dignity of the High Court, decided to transfer the proceedings to itself. The top court also stayed the CBI probe ordered by Justice Gangopadhyay. Senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, raised incidental concerns during the hearing. The Supreme Court emphasized the importance of respecting the powers of the Chief Justice of the High Court in allocating cases, thereby focusing solely on the transfer of the case to maintain judicial propriety and integrity.

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