The Calcutta High Court on Monday (May 19, 2025) issued a contempt rule against eight persons, including Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh, in relation to an incident involving the heckling of lawyers near court premises on April 25.
A special three-judge Bench comprising Justices Arijit Banerjee, Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Rajashri Bharadwaj will hear the matter on June 16, and have directed the eight persons to file their replies in an affidavit by then.
The court sought a report from the Kolkata Police Commissioner over the incident, which has been submitted. The Bench directed the Kolkata Police Commissioner to hold an inquiry and identify the persons responsible for heckling the lawyers.
During an earlier hearing on May 2, the special Bench said that prima facie it was of the view that criminal contempt had been committed by interfering with due administration of justice and scandalising the judiciary.
A group of job seekers had protested outside the chambers of Calcutta High Court lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya on April 25. Mr. Bhattacharya and fellow lawyer Firdous Shamim, who are representing people that qualified in the School Service Commission exams of 2016, but were then allegedly deprived of employment in a cash-for-jobs “scam”, were allegedly heckled by protesters near the High Court.
Mr. Kunal Ghosh said in a social media post that his lawyers were ready to file an affidavit, but were unable to because of technical reasons. The Trinamool Congress leader has denied being present at the site of the incident on April 25.
Published – May 20, 2025 07:58 am IST
