Calcutta, April 22: Lawyers representing Madan Mitra in the Saradha case today withdrew his bail application from the Calcutta High Court division bench of Justices Nishita Mhatre and Asha Arora and decided to approach lower courts.

A section of Mitra's aides said his lawyers would press for the minister's bail in the Alipore additional chief judicial magistrate's court tomorrow, arguing that there was no need to keep him in judicial custody as the CBI had already submitted a chargesheet against him in the Saradha Realty case.

The same Alipore court had turned down Mitra's bail petition earlier, prompting his lawyers to move the high court.

But a section of the transport minister's lawyers today said it was imperative to move a fresh petition.

"The counsels appearing for Mitra were not sure if their client would get bail from the division bench," said a senior criminal lawyer practising in the high court and the Supreme Court.

"Had the division bench rejected the petition, the lawyers would have had no option but to move the Supreme Court. I think they were apprehensive about it."

When Mitra's bail petition came up for hearing before the high court division bench this morning, his team of counsels led by Milon Mukherjee and Sekhar Bose sought to withdraw the application.

"We have decided to withdraw the petition from this court and want to move the bail plea before the additional chief judicial magistrate of Alipore," Bose said.

"If the magistrate rejects our plea, we will move the district judges' court. Kindly give us the liberty to move the plea before this court again if the district judge also turns down our prayer," he pleaded.

The division bench allowed the petition to be withdrawn.

Since his arrest in December, Mitra's lawyers have moved the high court three times seeking bail. On one occasion the judge concerned got transferred. Justice Ashim Kumar Roy, who was assigned the case thereon, refused to hear it citing personal reasons.

When the case came up for hearing on April 16 before Justice Indira Banerjee, she referred it back to Chief Justice Manjula Chellur for assigning it to another judge, saying she had been invited to the minister's elder son's marriage reception.

"I had received an invitation card for attending the petitioner's (Mitra) son's marriage. I could not attend the programme. But even then I should not hear the case," Justice Banerjee had said.

Former Trinamul MP Srinjoy Bose, party vice-president Rajat Majumdar and vice-president of Saradha's media wing Somnath Dutta, all whom were arrested in the default scam, have been granted bail.