Single-judge vs. division bench at Calcutta High Court as Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay gives case papers to CBI despite stay

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday was privy to an interesting turn of events after two benches of the Court expressed conflicting views on whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should probe a case involving allegations of a fake caste certificates scam [Backward Classes Welfare Department vs Itisha Soren]..Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay passed an order on Wednesday morning asking the West Bengal Police to hand over documents related to the case to the CBI, only for a division bench to stay the said order the same day.Interestingly, despite the division bench's order of stay, the single-judge (Justice Gangopadhyay) proceeded to allow the handover of the case papers to the CBI on Wednesday afternoon.Notably, both the single-judge, as well as the division bench have posted the matter for further hearing today (January 25) through parallel orders passed the same day. .What the single-judge order said.Initially, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay passed an order calling for a CBI inquiry on a plea filed by one Itisha Soren. Soren alleged that fake caste certificates are rampant in the State and that several persons have obtained such certificates to get admission to medical courses. The order passed by Justice Gangopadhyay on Wednesday morning reads:"The entire thing for last three years is to be thoroughly investigated by the CBI as to issuance of reserved category certificates and admission of candidates with such certificates in Medical colleges."Notably, the petition did not seek any direction for a CBI probe. All the same, the judge ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI."When a scam is peeping it's head it is the duty of the court to pass appropriate order for a thorough probe in the matter irrespective of whether the petitioner has prayed for a CBI inquiry or not," Justice Gangopadhyay said..The single-judge added that he had little faith in the West Bengal Police since it was unable to arrest Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan whose residence was recently sought to be raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over his alleged role in a ration scam. Notably, during the said raid, certain ED officers were attacked. The purported failure of the State police to arrest Shahjahan despite such an attack on ED officers led Justice Gangopadhyay to express reservations about the effectiveness of the police."I cannot place any faith upon such police authority, though I believe that they are efficient enough if they are allowed to work. But in several matters it come to light that police authority fails to take right steps to investigate crimes," Justice Gangopadhyay said. Referring to the fake caste certificates case, the judge added:"If the SIT finds any money trail, the Enforcement Directorate will also come into the picture for probing into the money trail.".Accordingly, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered Advocate General Kishore Datta to hand over the probe papers of the State Police to the CBI during the course of the day. Interestingly, the single-judge also made some observations to address any possible appeal by the State government against this order. "Before the State goes to the Hon’ble Supreme Court in connection with this order in appeal, I would expect that the State would disclose what is the total amount that has been spent by it for resisting the orders of this court in respect of CBI investigations by way of appeals and application in Supreme Court in education appointment matters," Justice Gangopadhyay said. .As anticipated, the State government did challenge the above order, albeit before a division bench of the High Court rather than the Supreme Court. .Division bench order.Within few minutes of the single-judge order being passed, the Advocate General mentioned the matter before a division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar.AG Datta told the division bench that Justice Gangopadhyay had not allowed the State to effectively place on record the steps taken to investigate the case. Having considered the State's submissions, the division bench stayed the single-judge order. .The division bench opined that unless there is a prayer in the petition for a CBI probe or a case is made out for a CBI probe, the right of the State to conduct fair and impartial investigation cannot be lightly interfered with as it would result in the "disruption of the co-operative federal structure of the country.""Unless the autonomy of the State to investigate into the issue is decided against the State, no such direction could have been passed ...There is no pleading in the writ petition for a CBI enquiry. The Court cannot travel beyond the pleadings," the division bench heldThe division bench, therefore, stayed the order passed by Justice Gangopadhyay, for a period of two weeks and adjourned the hearing till January 25 (today). .Single judge allows handover of case documents, says unaware of stay order.The issue just did not end with the stay order. Justice Gangopadhyay took up the matter for hearing again after the lunch break. As ordered in the morning session, a CBI officer was present in the courtroom. The judge, therefore, handed over the case documents submitted to the court by the State government to the CBI officer. Meanwhile, the counsel for the petitioner (Itisha Soren) is recorded to have informed the bench that "the matter was mentioned before the appeal court on behalf of the state."However, the single judge pointed out that "none from the State has intimated me any such thing."Having made this observation, the judge posted the matter for further hearing again on Thursday morning. .Advocates Biswaroop Bhattacharya, Raju Mondal and Keya Sutradhar appeared for the petitioner. Advocates Siddhartha Lahiri and Pradyat Saha represented the Union of India. Advocate General Kishore Datta along with advocate B Basu Mallick represented the State. .[Read single-judge orders].[Read division bench order]