NEW DELHI: Members of 'Lawyers for Justice' has strongly condemned the malicious attack on judiciary in Calcutta High Court, allegedly by advocates owing allegiance to ruling Trinamool Congress.
They decided to meet the Chairman, Bar Council of India, Manan Kumar Mishra and submit a memorandum demanding strong actions immediately in the interest of Justice.
They decided to ask from BCI chairman Mishra to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the advocates guilty of such professional misconduct at the earliest.
"The political anarchists in West Bengal have not even left the sacred institution of Judiciary. The malicious attacks on Judges including deeply personal attacks present a grave danger to the Indian Judicial System," it said in a statement.
On January 9, 2023, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court had to leave his courtroom after TMC lawyers laid siege before court room number 13 to protest against some of his earlier orders.
"The ensuing chaos forced Justice Mantha to exit his courtroom. Miscreants have also pasted posters against Justice Mantha within the court premises and outside his Jodhpur Park residence. Justice Mantha faced the ire of several lawyers affiliated with the ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC), who gathered outside his courtroom and prevented him from continuing with proceedings. Pamphlets describing Justice Mantha as a "disgrace in the name of the judiciary" were seen pasted on walls near the court premises and the judge's residence," they said.
Notably, in December, 2022, Justice Mantha had given protection to Shuvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition, directing the state police not to register any more FIRs against him without the High Court’s permission.
Adhikari had then filed a plea alleging that 26 FIRs had been registered against him in different police stations to prevent him from performing his duties as MLA
Earlier, Justice Mantha had removed the protection granted to Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of Abhishek Banerjee, in a money laundering case.
On Tuesday, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay criticised intimidation of judges. He had also faced similar protests in April, 2022 after he ordered a CBI probe into the teachers’ recruitment scam in government schools in West Bengal.
