The Calcutta High Court bench comprising Justice Suvra Ghosh and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Thursday summoned the Office Bearers of the concerned District Bar Associations in the matter of lawyers’ strike held in the District Courts of Calcutta.
The Court, after looking at the report filed by the Superintendent of Police, Pashcim Medinipur, said it revealed “A Spine Chilling Picture.”
The Court in its earlier order dated December 23, 2019, had directed the Superintendent of Police to enquire into the allegation of obstruction caused by the lawyers on strike, in the smooth functioning of Medinipur Sadar Court.
The Court observed that “The aforesaid state of affairs depicts a cavalier attitude on the part of lawyers to the rule of law and repeated pronouncements of the Apex Court that a strike in the Court resulting in paralysis of administration of justice amounts to criminal contempt.”
The Court also recorded that, “FIR has been registered against the said lawyers. Reports placed before us discloses sufficient materials to take a prima facie view that the conduct of the striking lawyers amount to interference with administration of justice and has resulted in complete paralysis in the dispensation of justice in the said district.”
The Court thus directed the Presidents And Secretaries of the Bar Associations of Medinipur and Midnapur to show cause why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them in terms of law and they were also directed to be personally present before the court on the next date of hearing i.e., February 17, 2020.
— India Legal Bureau