Kolkata: A three-member fact-finding team, set up by the Bar Council of India (BCI), on Monday visited the Calcutta High Court to probe the incident of a ruckus and boycott of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha’s courtroom by a section of lawyers amid observation of “Black Day” from the Bar Council of West Bengal (BCWB), court sources said.
The BCI team- comprising SC lawyer Ravindra Kumar Raizada, a senior advocate of Allahabad High Court Ashok Mehta and an executive committee member of Delhi High Court Bar Association Bandana Kaur Grover was formed after complaints from advocates in Delhi that the Calcutta HC lawyers had violated the council’s ethics.
The visiting members would meet the HC Registrar General and collect the footage of the ruckus, which was witnessed early last week, and meet some of the HC officials and advocates before leaving the city here.
The fact-finding committee is expected to submit the report to the BCI by Tuesday, the sources added.
The fact-finding members are expected to investigate the chaos that had occurred before the Justice Mantha’s courtroom after a section of lawyers protested and boycotted Courtroom No 13 and obstructed entry of other lawyers. Slanderous posters referring to Justice Mantha’s judgement also appeared outside his residence in Jodhpur Park, south Kolkata.
HC Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava on Saturday set up a three-judge committee to adjudicate the criminal contempt proceedings against some lawyers initiated by Justice Mantha.
Meanwhile, a section of Bar Council of West Bengal (BCWB) members was observing the “Black Day” in protest against the arbitrary issue of contempt rule by Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, which some lawyers alleged curtailed their rights.
