Hours after the Supreme Court asked the Calcutta High Court acting chief justice to reassign the West Bengal school jobs “scam” case to another judge after examining a report on Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s interview to a news channel about the matter, the HC judge sought the report submitted before the CJI against him.

Soon the Supreme Court swung into action and in a hearing late on Friday evening,  stayed his order that directed the Supreme Court Secretary General to produce the report and official transcript of an interview the HC judge had given to a news channel.

The SC directed its Secretary General that Justice Gangopadhyay be conveyed the top court’s order. “The order of present nature ought not to have been passed in judicial proceedings keeping in view the judicial discipline.  We hereby stay the order passed by the High Court judge in the suo motu proceeding. We direct the Secretary General of the Supreme Court to communicate this order to the Registrar General of Calcutta High Court forthwith who shall communicate the same to the High Court judge,” said the SC.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared before the bench also agreed that such an order should not have been passed by the High Court judge.

On Friday morning, bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha ordered that the proceedings against Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in relation to the school-for-jobs case, being heard by Justice Gangopadhyay, be transferred to some other judge of the High Court. The order was passed in light of the fact that Justice Gangopadhyay had given an interview to news channel ABP Ananda in which he made some comments against Banerjee, even as he was hearing the case.

Hours after the apex court order removing him from handling the case, Justice Gangopadhyay  passed an order calling for the official transcript of the interview from the Supreme Court Registrar General to be placed before him, by 12.15 am. Justice Gangopadhyay further directed the Registrar General of the Calcutta High Court to communicate this order forthwith to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court so that “those two sets in original, which were before the Hon’ble Judges today, can be placed before me as this has become now records of the court as the adjudication thereof is over.”