HC concludes hearing on Howrah court clash

KOLKATA: The division bench of Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Arindam Mukherjee on Monday concluded the hearing of a suo motu complaint, initiated by the Chief Justice Thottathil B Nair Radhakrishnan against the clash on the Howrah court premises that took place on April 24. The HC, however, did not fix the date for judgment.
Advocate Joydeep Kar, appearing for the HC administration, said it was evident the police had entered the court premises without the permission of the district judge.“The police are the protector of the court premises, but on that day, they acted in contrary. So, a strong action should be taken against the police,” Kar said.
Advocate General Kishore Dutta pointed out that the model code of conduct for the elections was still in force in the state, and so, the state administration was not in a position to take steps against the accused police personnels. While concluding the hearing, the division bench urged to keep faith in the judiciary, as court would consider all the aspects of the case before passing an order.
Bar council members also staged a sit-in protest at the city civil court, protesting against the alleged police action. State Bar council chairman Ashok Deb, along with members Prasun Dutta and Uttam Majumdar, held a meeting over calling off the cease-work but no decision was taken. They said that they were looking to the HC order before normalcy was resumed.