The Calcutta High Court Tuesday declined to itself initiate contempt proceedings against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but stressed that the reprieve "should not be taken as approval of her statements".
A division bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, while refusing to initiate the proceedings, observed: "The chief minister's speech is not one which transcends the Lakshmana Rekha of scandalising the Court or obstructing the administration of justice or interfering in the due course of judicial proceeding."
"We are therefore unwilling to suo moto invoke our power to initiate a proceeding for contempt in respect of the aforesaid imputations," read the order.
Speaking at the state Assembly's platinum jubilee celebrations Aug 14, Banerjee had alleged that there were instances where court judgments have been bought for money.
The court while granting relief to Banerjee made it clear that it should not be construed as an approval of her speech which was not "moderate".
"The imputations were neither moderate not couched in temperate language, although the same in the contextual matter according to us may not constitute an act of criminal contempt.
"We make it clear that our reluctance to initiate such proceedings should not be taken as an approval of the statements made by the speaker - not an ordinary personality but the chief minister of the state," the court said in the order.
Earlier a contempt petition against Banerjee was dismissed by the Supreme Court.