Alapan Bandyopadhyay, former Bengal chief secretary and current chief adviser to the chief minister, moved Calcutta High Court on Tuesday challenging a decision to shift a case he had filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal bench in Calcutta to the principal bench of CAT in Delhi.

The Centre had served a showcause notice on Bandyopadhyay, asking why he had violated norms by “not attending a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” at Kalaikunda on May 28.

“Bandyopadhyay had replied that only the state government, where the IAS officer is posted, has the jurisdiction to carry out an inquiry on the officer’s conduct. But the Centre’s department of personnel and training (DoPT), the cadre-controlling authority of IAS officers, unilaterally set up an inquiry committee against Bandyopadhyay and asked him to appear before the committee in Delhi,” said a source in Nabanna.

Bandyopadhyay had challenged before the CAT’s Calcutta bench the DoPT’s decision to set up the inquiry committee against him.

“But the DoPT moved the principal bench of CAT in Delhi, urging it to shift the case to the capital, which was approved unilaterally. Bandyopadhyay has challenged the decision to shift the case from the CAT bench in Calcutta to the CAT principal bench in Delhi. It is still unknown why the case is moved to Delhi even though it could easily be heard by the Calcutta bench,” said a source in the administration.

Death threat

Late on Tuesday night, Calcutta police lodged a case based on a complaint from Bandyopadhyay regarding a death threat to him through a letter.

The letter was sent to his wife and Calcutta University vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Bandyopadhyay. It was sent by one Gourhari Mishra.