The Supreme Court on Monday firmly cautioned against turning judicial proceedings into political battlegrounds while hearing a plea seeking criminal contempt action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her remarks following the apex court’s ruling in the high-profile teachers’ recruitment scam case.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, along with Justice K Vinod Chandran, made the observation during a hearing on a petition filed by public charitable trust Aatmdeep. The petitioner alleged that the Chief Minister’s public statements undermined the judiciary after the court upheld the cancellation of nearly 25,000 teaching appointments in West Bengal.
“Please fight your political battle outside this court,” the bench remarked, warning counsel for the petitioner not to politicise the issue in the courtroom.
Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the petitioner, requested a deferment of the hearing, citing that a request for consent had been sent to the Attorney General — a procedural requirement for initiating criminal contempt proceedings.
In response, CJI Gavai noted, “Are you so sure that you will get the consent? Don’t try to politicise before the court; your political battle, you should fight somewhere else.”
The court has adjourned the matter for four weeks.
The controversy stems from the Supreme Court’s April verdict affirming a Calcutta High Court ruling that declared the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission to be fraudulent and beyond repair. The Chief Minister had reportedly made critical remarks about the verdict, prompting the trust to approach the court with a contempt petition.
