E-Paper
Contempt plea against Mamata withdrawn as AG denies consent
A contempt petition against West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was withdrawn as the Attorney General refused consent, citing court politicization concerns.
A petition seeking contempt proceedings to be initiated against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was withdrawn from the Supreme Court on Thursday as the Attorney General refused to grant consent - a precondition for filing such a plea.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran allowed the petition to be withdrawn after the petitioner Aatmadeep - a charitable trust - informed the court that the AG had refused to grant consent.
Advocate Ayush Anand appearing for the petitioner said, “I have received instruction to withdraw the present contempt petition. The petitioner had written to the AG seeking consent but consent has not been given.”
The organisation had accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo of committing contempt of court for her utterances made against the judgment delivered by the top court early this year cancelling the recruitment of over 25,000 teachers in state schools over allegations of fraud and manipulations in the selection process.
When the matter was heard in July, the bench headed by CJI had lashed out against the petitioner organisation for bringing electoral battles to courts. The bench had then observed, “You must fight your political battles somewhere else, not before the courts.” The court even accused the petitioner of politicising the matter.
During the last hearing, the lawyers appearing for Aatmadeep informed the court that a request has been made to the office of AG seeking consent to proceed with the matter. For initiating contempt proceedings in the Supreme Court under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, one is required to obtain the consent of the Attorney General under Rule 3(c) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of Supreme Court, 1975.
On this ground, the matter was adjourned by four weeks on July 21. Last month, the office of AG responded to the letter filed by the petitioner refusing to grant sanction.
On April 3, the top court had set aside over 25,000 teacher recruitments in the state carried out in 2016 on the ground that the entire selection process stood “vitiated and tainted beyond resolution”.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which probed the illegalities had shown how the manipulations were made to benefit candidates who paid bribes to TMC leaders for getting the job. Merit was given a go-by as the CBI found that some of the selected candidates had submitted blank OMR sheets while rank jumping was noted in other cases showing clear evidence of fraud in the public recruitment process. The court felt the need to set aside the entire recruitment (including the untainted candidates) as it held, “The credibility and legitimacy of the selection process has been denuded.”
Soon after the judgment, CM Mamata Banerjee had questioned the top court by saying, “Who has the right to take anyone’s job? No one. You can put me in jail for saying this but I don’t care.” She had further alleged that there is a conspiracy to malign the education system in the state and questioned the decision for painting all the teachers with the same brush.
The petitioner before the top court alleged that the remarks by the chief minister undermines judicial authority causing disrepute to the institution and diminishing faith among the public in the administration of justice.
