Central govt's modus operandi in Alapan case reeks of malafides: Calcutta HC

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday took strong exception to the decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal's Kolkata Bench to unilaterally transfer a petition filed by West Bengal's former Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay to the principal bench in the national Capital.

In a strongly-worded 18-page order, a High Court Division Bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Rabindranath Samanta said the CAT order "shocks the judicial conscience". It added that the Government of India's modus operandi "reeks of mala fides".

"The entire modus operandi adopted by the Union of India reeks of mala fides. It is unfortunate that the Principal Bench of the CAT nurtured such efforts by passing the impugned transfer order, thereby paying obeisance to the diktat of the Union of India, which has been repeatedly held by the Supreme Court and various High Courts not to be a favoured litigant.

Rather, the responsibility of meting out justice and serving the cause of justice is on a much higher pedestal for the Union of India than an ordinary individual litigant," the court observed.

On October 22, the CAT's principal Bench in New Delhi transferred from its Kolkata Bench to itself the hearing into Bandyopadhyay's plea against the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Centre.

The disciplinary proceedings against the former state Chief Secretary were initiated because he skipped a cyclone review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kalaikunda on May 28. He was directed to report to the Centre on May 31, the day of his retirement.

While Bandyopadhyay chose not to take up the state government's offer to extend his service period and retired, the Union Personnel Ministry started disciplinary proceedings against him in June.

The High Court, on Friday, set aside the Kolkata Bench's transfer order and asked it to settle the case expeditiously.

The order came three days after Bandyopadhyay, who is now the principal adviser to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, challenged the CAT Kolkata Bench's 22 October order to transfer his petition to the principal Bench.

He had moved CAT on October 8, questioning the jurisdiction of the Government of India in initiating disciplinary action against him.

However, on October 13, the Narendra Modi government appointed a retired IAS officer senior to Bandyopadhyay as the inquiry officer in the case. A week later, the Central government filed a petition to transfer the case to the CAT principal bench. The petition was disposed of immediately.