SC relief for Mamata

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed withdrawal of a petition seeking contempt action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for making a statement reportedly that court judgments were delivered for money, on the ground that a similar matter was pending before the Calcutta High Court.

A bench of Justices P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi told petitioner Prof Bhim Singh of Jammu and Kashmir Panthers’ Party to wait for the outcome of the proceedings in the High Court or file an impleadment petition over there saying that parallel proceedings could not be allowed.

The court allowed Singh to withdraw the petition but gave him liberty to approach the apex court afresh if he was not satisfied with the High Court’s order.

According to the petition filed by Singh, Mamata’s statement issued on August 14 during the platinum jubilee celebration of the state legislature had inevitable effect of undermining the confidence of the public in the Indian judiciary as it tended to lower the integrity, reputation and authority of the judicial system.

The HC had last month admitted a contempt of court petition filed by a former mayor of Kolkata.