SC transfers to itself all proceedings pending before Calcutta HC in fake caste certificate case

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Monday formally transferred to itself all the proceedings pending before the Calcutta High Court related to fake caste certificates being used for admission in medical colleges and hospitals in West Bengal.

“We will transfer the proceedings in the writ petition and the letters patent appeal from the High Court to the Supreme Court. We have already passed a stay order last time. We will list the matter after sometime so that parties can complete the pleadings in the meantime,” said a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud.

Related story: Single judge vs division bench: SC direcs for CBI probe on fake caste certificates in admission case

In a brief hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of the West Bengal government, apprised that the state government has filed a status report and 14 certificates have been cancelled and four FIRs have been filed in the matter.

At this, the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, said: “We would like to have an affidavit by the state government on the steps taken by it.”

The matter will be heard by the apex court after a period of three weeks.

In a special sitting held on Saturday, the top court on its own motion stayed all the proceedings pending before the Calcutta High Court in the case, including directions for a CBI probe issued by a single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay.

Issuing notice to the State of West Bengal and the original petitioner, the Supreme Court said that it “will take the charge now”.

The apex court of the country took suo moto cognizance of the unprecedented differences arisen between a division bench and a single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court over CBI probe into alleged irregularities pertaining to admissions in medical colleges in West Bengal.

In an order passed on January 25, a single-judge bench of Justice Gangopadhyay “ignored” a stay order passed by the division bench of the High Court and asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to “immediately” start investigation into alleged irregularities pertaining to admissions in medical colleges in West Bengal.

Justice Gangopadhyay even accused one of the two judges of the division bench of “acting clearly for some political party”.