Kolkata
The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused to take suo motu cognisance of an urgent motion seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for remarks directed at the judiciary.
Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya mentioned the matter before a Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya pointing out that the remarks could impact the ‘majesty of the judiciary.’
Matter already before judges
The Bench said that it cannot take suo motu cognisance of the motion and instead asked Mr. Bhattacharya to either file a petition or mention the matter before a larger bench, which is already dealing with contempt proceedings against persons who had put up objectionable posters against Justice Rajasekhar Mantha.
A three Judge Bench of the High Court is hearing a contempt proceeding against persons who placed posters against Justice Rajasekhar Mantha.
Mr. Bhattacharya while seeking suo motu cognisance said that Mr. Banerjee, is now on record, claiming that High Court is giving protection to antisocial elements and has directly blamed this Court for the deaths due to poll violence. The advocate also added that the remarks were scathing and scandalous and such remarks cannot be allowed to shake the confidence of the people in the judiciary. Mr. Bhattacharya is also a Rajya Sabha MP of Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Judge accused of bias
Abhishek Banerjee on July 14 had accused a section of the judiciary of siding with BJP leadership including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
“Justice Rajasekhar Mantha has given such a judgment that if Suvendu Adhikari does anything wrong in the future no action can be taken against him. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha has also given protection to accused who are behind the violence.. Because of one judge of the High Court the entire judiciary is being maligned. The hands of the administration are being tied,” Mr. Banerjee said speaking to mediapersons at SSKM hospital.
This is not the first time that Mr. Banerjee has expressed displeasure with the judiciary. The remark evoked strong reactions with political parties in the Opposition accusing the Trinamool leader of disrespecting the judiciary. A number of retired judges of the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court also expressed their disapproval of the remarks by the Trinamool leader.
