In an unusual occurrence, a single-judge bench of Calcutta High Court on Thursday declined to accept the decision of a division bench of the same court and asked the CBI to continue with its probe into the alleged irregularities in the admission in the medical course in 2023 under the reserved category.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had on Wednesday asked the CBI to conduct a probe to find out whether some candidates had enrolled in the MBBS course last year in the reserved category by furnishing fake caste certificates.
Later during the day, a division bench headed by Justice Soumen Sen of the same court stayed Justice Gangopadhyay’s order following an appeal by the state.
However, acting on the instructions of Justice Gangopadhyay, the central agency had on Wednesday started a case against the 27 candidates who have been accused by the petitioner of having secured berths in the medical course by producing fake caste papers.
On Thursday, the division bench quashed the FIR registered by the CBI and asked the agency to return all relevant documents to the registrar general of the court.
Justice Gangopadhyay expressed his displeasure after hearing that his order had been stayed by a division bench of the court.
He said in the open court that the order passed by the division bench was not in accordance with the law and directed the CBI to continue with the probe, as ordered by him on Wednesday.
Justice Gangopadhyay dictated the order to the court officer in an open court and asked him to send a copy of the order to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. However, the formal order was not uploaded on the website of the high court till Thursday evening.
According to the law, a division bench of a high court is considered a higher bench than a single-judge bench. A litigant or a respondent can move a division bench against an order of a single-judge bench.
In the eye of the law, the division bench’s order prevails over that of the single-judge bench.
But despite being a single-bench judge, Justice Gangopadhyay declined to accept the decision of a division bench.
“This is unprecedented. Let’s see whether the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court or the Supreme Court intervenes in the matter,” said an advocate at the high court.
Earlier this month, Ishita Soren of Bankura had moved a case before Justice Gangopadhyay alleging that she had failed to get a slot in the medical course despite scoring the required marks in the NEET and being eligible for admission under the reserved category.