The Supreme Court commanded a pause in the Calcutta high court’s proceedings due to an unusual dispute involving two benches over a CBI investigation into an alleged fake caste certificate scam. The incident led to reproaches cast between a single judge and a division bench with consecutive orders dated January 24 and 25. A specially convened five-judge constitution bench, including Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, took notice and scheduled a hearing for January 29.
The court intervened in response to a single bench’s decision concerning allegations of irregularities in the MBBS admissions at West Bengal medical colleges. The controversy started when the single bench, headed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, directed the CBI to investigate, citing distrust in state police. This order was opposed by the West Bengal government and was stayed by the division bench of justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar.
However, Justice Gangopadhyay criticized the division bench’s stay order as ‘illegal’ and ignored it, openly accusing Justice Sen of political bias. The single judge’s standpoint led the Supreme Court to take up the issue for a swift reassessment.
Itisha Soren, a NEET applicant from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, triggered the initial probe after claiming that she was unjustly denied a government college seat, while others with fraudulent ST certificates were admitted. The CBI registered a case following the high court’s directive, investigating government officials over the issue spanning the last three years.
The allegations suggest deep-rooted corruption in the issuance of fake category certificates, subsequently used for obtaining seats in medical colleges. Justice Gangopadhyay called for extensive CBI investigation. Highlighting a lack of confidence in local police, he cited an incident where state police failed to protect Enforcement Directorate officers.
Soren, hailing from a financially disadvantaged family, highlighted her inability to afford private college tuition despite scoring decently on the NEET exam. She discovered that numerous seats in government colleges were claimed by candidates who did not legitimately belong to the ST category. The case brought to light a multi-year scheme involving the issuance of reserved category certificates and the admission process in medical colleges. With a clarion call for justice and the untangling of widespread corruption, the case now awaits further examination by the Supreme Court.