Cal HC issues contempt rule in lawyers' heckling case

Kolkata, May 19 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Monday issued contempt rule against eight people for allegedly heckling lawyers near the court premises on April 25.

A report on the incident was submitted by Kolkata Police Commissioner before a three-judge special bench, in compliance with the court’s earlier directive.

The bench directed the alleged contemnors to file their replies by June 16, when the matter will next be heard.

The court observed that while the alleged contemnors were represented by their advocates, none had submitted an affidavit before the bench.

The bench had on May 2 directed the Kolkata Police Commissioner to file a report on the alleged heckling of lawyers and instructed him to ensure their protection.

The three-judge special bench directed the Kolkata police commissioner to hold an inquiry and identify the persons responsible for heckling the lawyers.

The bench also directed him to ensure the protection of lawyers and see that such incidents do not recur.

The police commissioner was also asked to preserve the CCTV footage of the incident at the junction of Kiran Shankar Roy Road and Old Post Office Street near the high court premises.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, which allegedly involved the heckling of several lawyers, including senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam constituted a special three-judge bench comprising Justices Arijit Banerjee, Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Rajarshi Bharadwaj.

On May 2, the bench had said prima facie it was of the view that criminal contempt had been committed by interfering with due administration of justice and scandalising the judiciary. PTI AMR MNB