Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court has passed a judicial order, alleging that Justice Soumen Sen directed Justice Amrita Sinha not to pass adverse orders against Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee.
Justice Gangopadhyay claimed in the order passed on Thursday night that Justice Sinha had informed him on a phone call that Justice Sen asked her to come to his chamber before the winter vacation.
As per the order, Justice Sinha informed Justice Gangopadhyay that Justice Sen called her in his chamber on the last day before vacation and like a political leader, he dictated Justice Sinha three things:-
i) Mr. Avishek Banerjee has a political future, he should not be disturbed.
ii) Live-streaming shall be stopped in Justice Amrita Sinha’s court.
iii) The two writ petitions before Justice Amrita Sinha, where the name of Mr. Avishek Banerjee is involved, are to be dismissed, it added.
Justice Sinha informed the Chief Justice of the High Court about this, who in turn intimated the Chief Justice of India.
The judicial order further accused Justice Sen of working for the ruling Trinamool Congress. It said that Justice Sen was acting clearly for some political party in the State and therefore, the orders passed in the matters involving the State, were required to be relooked if the Supreme Court thought so.
Justice Gangopadhyay requested the Chief Justice of India to look into the matter, noting that a judge calling another judge in his chamber and dictating her something was nothing but interference with the course of justice.
The order noted that Justice Sen had been recommended for a transfer to the Orissa High Court by the Supreme Court Collegium in 2021, despite which the judge was continuing at the Calcutta High Court.
He further requested the CJI to find out about the persons, who were saving Justice Sen from such transfer whereby the order of the Supreme Court Collegium can be ignored while the other Judges have been transferred by the same recommendation?
The judicial order further mentioned an order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court headed by Justice Sen, which first stayed and then set aside his order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe an alleged fake caste certificate scam in the State.
Justice Gangopadhyay further urged the CJI to look into the order passed by the Division Bench without any memorandum of appeal and impugned order.
Justice Sinha has been hearing a bunch of petitions related to the ‘School Jobs for Cash Scam’ in which Banerjee is alleged to have played a crucial role. The judge had made several observations in open court while hearing that matter and had even passed an order asking the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to properly probe Banerjee’s role in the scam.