Visitors to the Calcutta High Court and subordinate courts may soon be screened with metal detectors, the Court has said while hearing a suo motu PIL on alleged attacks on lawyers.
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Kolkata: Proposing metal detectors at the High Court and subordinate courts to screen visitors, the Calcutta High Court on Monday took up a suo motu public interest litigation started after an alleged attack on an advocate at the Baruipur court premises [Suo motu PIL on alleged attacks on lawyers].
The matter was heard on October 12, 2026 by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge and Justice Om Narayan Rai.
What prompted the PIL
The PIL began with an alleged attack on advocate Sayan Banerjee at the Baruipur court premises. The Court is also looking at accounts of similar incidents involving lawyers at other courts in West Bengal, among them alleged egg-pelting at the Baruipur, Bankshall and Chandannagar courts and an alleged attack at the residence of senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
All of these incidents are allegations. The dates and the persons responsible are not available at the time of writing, and the Court has made no finding on them.
What the Court wants from the Bar
The West Bengal Bar Council and lawyers’ organisations have been asked to discuss the measures and send their decisions to the Chief Justice. Once they do, the Chief Justice said, the court administration would bring in a system to check visitors with metal detectors before entry.
The State’s action-taken report
As the Bench had earlier directed, the State filed an action-taken report on October 12, stating that adequate security measures were in place.
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Smoking and gutkha
Separately, the High Court is writing to subordinate courts, asking them to prohibit smoking and the consumption of gutkha and paan on court premises.
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Case Details: Suo motu PIL on alleged attacks on lawyers, Calcutta High Court. Bench: Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge and Justice Om Narayan Rai. Case title and number, and the next hearing date, not available at the time of writing. Date of hearing: October 12, 2026.
Appearances: Not available at the time of writing.