The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed NGO Aatmadeep to withdraw its criminal contempt petition against Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her alleged critical remarks against the Supreme Court after its judgment on the teachers recruitment case after the NGO informed the court that Attorney-General of India R. Venkataramani had refused to permit the proceedings.

The permission of the Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General of India is mandatory to prosecute any person for contempt by private individuals under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

On Thursday, when the matter came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, counsel Ayush Anand appearing for the NGO informed the court that Attorney-General Venkataramani had denied permission. Hence, he sought permission of the court to withdraw the petition.

Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai agreed to the request and accordingly passed an order: “Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner seeks permission to withdraw this petition. Permission is granted. The contempt petition is accordingly disposed of as withdrawn.”

Earlier on July 21, CJI Gavai had orally told senior advocate Maninder Singh appearing for NGO Aatmadeep, not to politicise the issue.

According to the NGO, after the Supreme Court verdict in April this year had upheld the termination of around 25,000 teaching/non-teaching staff recruited by Bengal government in 2016, as was earlier directed by Calcutta High Court, Mamata had made contemptuous remarks against the apex court hence, contempt proceedings should be initiated against her.

Singh had requested the court for deferment of the hearing on the ground that necessary permission for prosecuting the chief minister was being sought from the attorney general.

“We have sought consent from the attorney general. If the matter can be kept on board later,” Singh pleaded. The bench, which also included Justice Vinod Chandran, asked: “Are you so sure you will get the consent? We should dismiss it right away now. Don’t politicise such cases. Political battles you can fight outside the court.”

Accordingly, when the matter came up for hearing, the NGO cited the attorney general’s refusal as the reason to withdraw the petition.

On April 3, an apex court bench of then CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld the termination of around 25,000 teaching/non-teaching staff recruited by Bengal government in 2016, calling the “entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution”.