The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Calcutta High Court order which had quashed the order of the Principal Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), in which former West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay had sought transfer of the case from Kolkata to New Delhi.
A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar allowed the appeal filed by the Centre challenging Calcutta High Court’s order of setting aside the order passed by the CAT Principal Bench in New Delhi. The apex court said that the Calcutta High Court did not have the jurisdiction to decide the plea of Bandyopadhya.
It also granted liberty to Bandyopadhyay to approach the jurisdictional High Court (Delhi) to challenge the order of the CAT Principal Bench.
During the hearing of the case, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that he was taking serious exceptions to the observations of the Calcutta High Court such as the Union’s modus operandi “reeks of mala fides” and the CAT Principal Bench was “overzealous” to cater to the fiat of the government and paid “obeisance to the diktat of the Union of India”.
The Central government had moved Supreme Court challenging October 29 Calcutta High Court order quashing CAT Principal Bench decision to uphold the transfer of case against Badhopadhyay out of Bengal to New Delhi.
The Centre claimed that the High Court lacked jurisdiction to pass the order contending that cause of action has arisen entirely in New Delhi and therefore, jurisdiction would lie with the Principal Bench, New Delhi since the charge sheet was issued from here.
Further, any challenge to the CAT order would lie before the Delhi High Court, and not the Calcutta High Court, Centre had added.
In May 2021, Bandyopadhyay was serving as Chief Secretary when the Centre decided to cut short his tenure with the West Bengal government and asked him to report to New Delhi.
On May 31, Bandyopadhyay superannuated. Subsequently, an inquiry was initiated against him by the Centre for not attending a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on May 28, 2021 for assessing the loss of life and property caused by the cyclonic storm YAAS.
After the inquiry order, Bandyopadhyay moved CAT’s Kolkata Bench challenging it. Thereafter, the Centre moved the Principal Bench for the transfer of the case here and on October 22 order was passed allowing the transfer petition.