Advocate general regrets ‘boycott’ of Justice Mantha’s courtroom

The advocate general Soumendra Nath Mookherjee has regretted the “boycott” of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha’s courtroom by a section of lawyers while the latter has finally withdrawn their agitation to end the impasse.

In what appears to be a call for a truce, the Calcutta High Court’s Bar Association secretary Biswabrata Basu Mullick has assured there won’t be a repetition of the ruckus that unfolded on Monday. Justice Mantha has sought assurance that such agitation must not take place in any courtroom in the near future and emphasized that necessary orders on vital cases need to be passed regardless of whether it ends up disappointing someone.The advocate general, during the hearing of a case, has reportedly remarked that the recent developments were unfortunate.

On Monday, a section of lawyers boycotted Justice Mantha’s courtroom and neither did they allow any other lawyers to enter which affected the hearing of many cases of that day. Governor of Bengal, CV Ananda Bose has also warned against harassment of the judiciary. He summoned the state Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi and state Home Secretary BP Gopalika and the Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal to Raj Bhavan.

It is learnt that the governor has given instructions to ensure the foolproof security of the judges. The governor is said to have expressed dissatisfaction at the behaviour of a section of lawyers who launched full-scale agitation within the court, thus affecting the functioning of the judiciary.

Sources said that the governor clarified that such action cannot be tolerated, and reasoned that it can happen that one may not like a decision by a particular bench but that should not amount to harassment of judges.He has also enquired from the police whether the posters put up in Jodhpur Park (residence of Justice Mantha) have been removed and whether action has been taken.

He was assured that police have already started a probe and have taken steps to file an FIR against unnamed miscreants.Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Registrar General of the Calcutta High Court lodged a complaint at the Hare Street police station against unknown persons for putting up posters outside the High Court, bearing statements about Justice Mantha. Based on the complaint, an FIR has been registered and a hunt for the suspects has started.