Breaking: Justice Rajasekhar Mantha Initiates Suo Moto Contempt Action Against Lawyers Who Blockaded His Court

As per reports from the Calcutta High Court, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha has initiated suo moto criminal contempt proceedings against the lawyers who blockaded his Court yesterday.

A large group of alleged pro-Trinamool Congress lawyers had yesterday blockaded Court Room No. 13 of the Calcutta High Court where Justice Mantha sits. The lawyers allegedly pasted posters against the Judge in the High Court premises as well as near the residence of the Judge.

The posters contained a photograph of Justice Mantha with the word "shame" over it and making allegations against the Judge. The posters also said, "disgrace in the name of judiciary".

A video had emerged yesterday showing the blockading of the Court of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha.

Today, the Vice President and two elected members of the Bar Association of the High Court wrote to the Chief Justice stating that the resolution claimed to be passed yesterday by the Executive Committee of the Association to boycott the Court of Justice Mantha is illegal and without proper notice (read report).

Yesterday, the Executive Committee cited maintenance of peace and tranquillity amongst the members to call for boycotting the Court of Justice Mantha.

"Bar Association has received a representation dated 09.01.2023 signed by Achintya Kumar Banerjee and more than one hundred members of the Bar Association. The Bar Association upon deliberation and consideration of the letter and tensed situation inside the court premises, it is hereby unanimously resolved by the members of the Bar in the urgent General Body meeting that the members of the Bar Association shall abstain from judicial proceedings before the court of Hon'ble Justice Rajsekhar Mantha for dispensation of Judicial work and for maintaining peace and tranquillity amongst the members of the Bar", read the resolution allegedly adopted by the Executive Committee of the Association.

In August last year, Senior Advocate Arunava Gosh, the president of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association had threatened Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay who was hearing a matter related to the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam, saying that he knows how to deal with a judge. A video showed a lawyer using unparliamentary language against Justice Gangopadhyay in his Court during the same hearing.

In April last year, a general body meeting of the Bar Association called to pass a resolution against Justice Gangopadhyay was dissolved owing to an unruly situation and no resolution was adopted in it. "Due to unprecedented and unruly situation in the meeting, where no discussion relating to the issues stated in letter dated April 7 was possible, I was forced to dissolve the meeting," Ghosh had then written to the Chief Justice of the High Court.