New Delhi: In an extraordinary turn of events, the Supreme Court has intervened to resolve a constitutional crisis stemming from a standoff within the Calcutta high court. The matter involves a single judge’s defiance of a division bench’s stay on a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in medical admissions in West Bengal.As The Wire has reported, on January 26, the Supreme Court, exercising suo motu powers, initiated proceedings following an order by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta HC, which disregarded a stay imposed by a division bench. This division bench, led by Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar, had halted the CBI investigation, stating that the state government should complete its inquiry first.In a special Saturday hearing, the Supreme Court temporarily halted proceedings in the single bench’s writ petition and the division bench’s Letters of Patent Appeal.The Letter of Patent Appeal is a petition against a single judge’s decision to a different bench of the same court.On January 30, apex court judges did not comment on the apparent clash between Justices Gangopadhyay and Sen, observing that any remark would demean the dignity of a high court.The Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said, according to LiveLaw: “Casting aspersions on a single judge or division bench would not be proper. Anything we say will affect the dignity of the High Court. We will handle it in some way.”The five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the CJI, decided to transfer the entire matter to itself, scheduling it for a three-week hearing.During the hearing, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Bengal government, flagged an “ongoing concern” over Justice Gangopadhyay, who consistently handles similar cases. The judge has been at loggerheads with the Mamata Banerjee government over some of his judgments which do not favour her administration. He had earlier exposed a teacher recruitment exam racket in the state.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Union government contended there are shocking facts in the matter which would be brought before the court. The CJI cautioned against casting aspersions on the judge, urging lawyers to refrain from statements impacting the High Court’s dignity.The Bengal government has already filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court challenging the single bench’s order for a CBI investigation. Additionally, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing a federation of SC/ST students, announced filing a separate petition alleging irregular medical admissions based on false caste certificates.