No Agitation Within Court: Calcutta HC Orders In Contempt Case Against Protesting Lawyers, Criticizes Defamatory Posters Against Judge

In a significant development, a three-Judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday issued a slew of directions restraining advocates from holding agitations within the court premises pertaining to the contempt case initiated by Justice Rajasekhar Mantha against the errant lawyers who had created a ruckus outside his courtroom on January 9. A Bench comprising Justices TS Sivagnanam, IP Mukerji and Chitta Ranjan Dash ordered, "Since this Court is seized of this matter, we direct that no meetings, processions, agitations, shall be held or placards shall be displayed within the premises of this Court or anywhere else concerning the subject issue and this direction shall be given due publicity by the Registrar General by intimating to the three wings of the Bar as well as displaying the same in the notice board and also posting the same in the official website of this Hon’ble Court." Several posters describing Justice Mantha as a "disgrace in the name of the judiciary" were seen pasted inside the premises of the Calcutta High Court and also near the judge’s residence in south Kolkata. Accordingly, the Court listed the matter for further hearing on February 2 by recording, "Therefore, for the present, we shall await the appearances of the Bar Council of India as well as the Bar Council of West Bengal and the three wings of the Bar and the report of the police and by then, the requisite certificate would be issued by the concerned police authority so as to enable this Court to take on record the contents of the pen drive stated to contain the CCTV footages as well as the still photographs as received from the CCTV concerning the incidents in front of Court room no.13 on 9th January, 2023, 10th January, 2023 and 11th January, 2023."