Calcutta high court: Lawyers now aligned with political parties

KOLKATA: Lawyers are now aligned to political parties and their source of power lies outside the court, Calcutta high court said on Tuesday, lamenting the corresponding dip in court decorum . The observation was made by Justice Tirthankar Ghosh during the hearing of a petition alleging "harassment and atrocities" against family members of a father-son duo killed in the Murshidabad violence over waqf bill.

Senior counsel Billwadal Bhattacharya appeared for the aggrieved family, which alleged police overaction.

"They (lawyers) show heat before the court. This is very unfortunate," Justice Ghosh said, as he refused to entertain the plea saying a division bench was already hearing cases related to Murshidabad violence. He released the matter from his court and directed the case records be sent to Chief Justice for assignment to the appropriate bench.

The trouble began when the complainant told the court in the matter appeared before the court and submitted that he was forced to sign papers regarding a kidnapping complaint, based on which Bidhannagar police commissionerate officials raided the Salt Lake address where the victims' kin were staying. The complainant's counsel insisted that the state advocate-general, who was present in court, say something on the matter.

This prompted Justice Ghosh's observation. "Every case has an outcome. You can always go for an appeal if you are aggrieved. But, nowadays I find lawyers aligned to political parties keep shouting in court," he said.