Overview

• Petitioner Aatmadeep told a bench led by CJI B. R. Gavai that Attorney General R. Venkataramani had refused consent, leading the Court to permit withdrawal of the plea.
• The petition sought criminal contempt action over Banerjee’s comments on the Supreme Court ruling that scrapped the 2016 SLST recruitments in West Bengal.
• In a prior hearing, the bench cautioned against turning the issue into a political contest and questioned whether consent would be granted.
• The Supreme Court’s April 3 judgment upheld the Calcutta High Court, found pervasive fraud in SLST-2016 including missing OMR sheets, and extended limited relief to untainted candidates.
• Review petitions were dismissed in August with directions for a fresh recruitment within three months, and no contempt proceedings will proceed for now.