Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam has reassigned all cases relating to primary education that were to be heard by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who has accused a fellow judge of acting in the interest of West Bengal’s ruling party, to the bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, Live Law reported on Wednesday.

Gangopadhyay had earlier questioned the order of a two-judge bench led by Justice Soumen Sen in a case pertaining to an alleged teacher recruitment scam by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, reported Bar and Bench.

On Saturday, the Supreme Court stayed all proceedings before two benches of the Calcutta High Court after Gangopadhyay, in a January 25 order, accused Sen of doing the bidding of the Trinamool Congress in a separate case relating to fake caste certificates allegedly being used by candidates for MBBS admissions in state-run medical colleges. He also accused Sen of being an “interested party” in the case.

He also struck down an order by Sen’s bench staying his earlier instruction that the papers related to the alleged admissions scam be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Gangopadhyay’s move to strike down Sen’s direction came even though it is legally impermissible for a single judge to strike down an order of a larger bench. The Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter on Monday and transferred the case to itself.

Gangopadhyay has alleged that Sen recently summoned another judge, Justice Amrita Sinha, to his chambers and told her that Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee’s political future should not be disturbed through legal orders, Bar and Bench reported. Sen also allegedly said that live-streaming will be stopped in Sinha’s court and the two writ petitions involving Banerjee that are pending before her are to be dismissed.

Last year, the Supreme Court had reprimanded Gangopadhyay for giving an interview to a television channel about a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in West Bengal.

The Supreme Court’s observation come after Banerjee moved the top court against a High Court order that asked the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate to question him in connection with the case.

Also read: Judge vs Judge: How the Calcutta High Court got caught up in the state’s politics