The Calcutta High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of lawyers being heckled near the court. A special three-judge bench has been formed to investigate the incident.
Kolkata: The Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has taken serious note of an incident where some lawyers, including senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, were allegedly surrounded and heckled by a mob.
This happened near their chambers opposite the Calcutta High Court on April 25. Acting on the seriousness of the matter, Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam has taken suo motu (on his own) action and formed a special three-judge bench to look into the incident.
The newly formed bench will include Justice Arijit Banerjee, Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj. A senior lawyer connected to the case said that the hearing of this matter is expected to take place later this week.
On Monday, the bench led by Chief Justice Sivagnanam decided that formal petitions must be registered regarding the incident. A few advocates had informed the court about the incident in which senior lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and some of his colleagues were allegedly “gheraoed” (surrounded) and heckled outside their office by some people who are believed to be connected with certain litigants.
The division bench of Chief Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee directed that notices must be sent to the Advocate General, the Additional Solicitor General, and the secretaries of the three major Bar bodies within the Calcutta High Court—namely the Bar Association, the Bar Library Club, and the Incorporated Law Society.
The bench also ordered that once the petitions are formally registered, they must be presented before the Chief Justice for further action.
Lawyers, while narrating the incident, said that
“the hecklers were probably associated with some litigants” and requested the court to treat the incident seriously and “seek a report from the police”.
They also told the court that formal complaints have been filed with the police in connection to the incident.
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The Chief Justice said,
“the alleged incident was brought to his notice on April 25 evening”, and on his instruction, the registrar general of the High Court contacted the Deputy Commissioner of Police in that area.
He also mentioned that he had asked for the Advocate General (AG) of West Bengal to be informed and requested his immediate help.
The chief justice said that,
AG Kishore Dutta informed him later in the evening that the entire area was cleared of the mob.
This move by the Chief Justice underlines the judiciary’s concern for the safety and dignity of legal professionals. The Calcutta High Court has taken proactive steps to ensure that such incidents are not overlooked and proper legal action is taken.
The three-judge bench will now look into all aspects of this matter and the hearing is likely to bring more clarity on what exactly happened and what action needs to be taken.
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