One-member judicial commission to probe Howrah court clash

Kolkata: A Calcutta High Court division bench has ordered to form a one-member judicial commission to probe the April 24 incident of alleged “police brutality” on Howrah court lawyers. The bench of justices Biswanath Somadder and Arindam Mukherjee appointed retired Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh HC, Kalyanjyoti Sengupta, to head the judicial commission.The panel will submit its report to the HC within three months.
The bench delivered this judgment on a suo motu writ petition. The petition was moved after Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan took suo motu cognizance of the incident. The CJ had suggested appointing such a commission during the first hearing on this petition on April 29. S K Kapur, the counsel for Howrah Bar Association – one of the litigants – had, however, argued against appointment of such a commission.
The bench observed that the judiciary was one the pillars of democracy. This pillar witnessed a brutal attack on April 24. The bench further observed that such an incident should never recur.
The court ordered that the commission would inquire whether police entered the Howrah court premises after obtaining permission from the appropriate authority. It should also probe how many policemen entered the court premises and the nature of “brutality” they allegedly inflicted on lawyers inside. That bench will hear the case on August 26.
The court also ruled that senior police officers, allegedly involved in this brutality should be barred from policing work in Howrah for the next three months. These officers include the Howrah police commissioner. The court directed the state to ensure that cops avoid entering court premises unless it is extremely urgent. Such entry should be made only with due permission.
The bench pointed out that state advocate general Kishore Dutta had admitted that police and employees of Howrah Municipal Corporation entered Howrah court premises on April 24 without permission. Further, the video footage — submitted both by the state and Howrah Bar Association — shows both HMC employees and police had entered the court premises and ransacked lawyers’ chambers. But no FIR was lodged against them. Far from arresting these HMC employees, police lodged FIRs against lawyers, the court said. These court then stayed action on the these FIRs against lawyers till the commission submits its report on August 26. The court further observed that the affidavit filed by police had suppressed several facts. This is a clear attempt to mislead the court, the bench observed.