A division bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya on Thursday accepted five separate petitions seeking suo motu action against chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her alleged adverse comments on the judiciary.

The judges said they were not taking any decision at the moment but keeping the papers with them for consideration.

A division bench of the high court had on Monday cancelled the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching employees of state-aided schools because of “irregularities”.

A day after the verdict was announced, Mamata allegedly said at an election rally: "They have purchased everything. Courts have been purchased. I am not telling about the Supreme Court."

Senior advocate and CPM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya mentioned newspaper reports on the chief minister's statement before the division bench.

"The dignity of the court has been maligned due to the chief minister's statement and it has tarnished the image of the judiciary in the public mind," Bhattacharyya told the bench.

He said the court should take suo motu cognisance and proper steps.

The Chief Justice asked Bhattacharya to file the petition in the respective department.

Subsequently, similar pleas were made in four separate prayers and the Chief Justice asked all to file their cases.

Later in the afternoon, the matter came up for hearing.

After going through the newspaper reports, the Chief Justice said: "The court is accepting the petitions and keeping the papers. We will let you know about our decision later."