Cal HC Bar Assn withdraws decision to not attend Justice Gangopadhyay’s court

Kolkata, Dec 21 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court Bar Association on Thursday withdrew its decision to not attend Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s court after the judge visited the body’s office and spoke to the lawyers present, its secretary Biswabrata Basu Mallik said.

The association had written to Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam stating that its members would not attend the bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay from Tuesday, claiming that a lawyer was “mistreated” by the judge and sent to civil custody for contempt of court during the hearing of a matter.

The bench of Justice Gangopadhyay did not sit on Tuesday and Wednesday, as per the listing of matters on the high court website.

The judge went to the Bar association’s room on the high court premises on Thursday during lunch recess and spoke to the lawyers present, Mallick told reporters.

He said that the lawyer concerned, Prosenjit Mukherjee, was present as were many other advocate members of the Bar when Justice Gangopadhyay visited its office.

Mallick claimed that the judge said that as the new year is going to be ushered in in a few days, one must forget any misgivings from the past and look forward to a new beginning.

“Since he expressed himself in such a candid manner, the general body of the Bar decided to attend his court from the afternoon session itself,” he said.

Acting on a letter by lawyer Prosenjit Mukherjee claiming that Justice Gangopadhyay had sent him to civil custody for contempt of court during the hearing of a matter, a division bench of the high court had on Monday granted interim stay on operation of the order, while noting that a copy of the single judge’s order was not yet uploaded on the official server.

Mukherjee had stated before the division bench that he was released later in the day from the custody taken by the Sheriff but apprehended that the order of three-day civil imprisonment may, if implemented, put him again in custody.

Mallick, in a letter to the chief justice on Monday, had said that a resolution was taken by the majority of its members to not attend the court of Justice Gangopadhyay in view of the incident.