Last week, Calcutta High Court division bench of Chief Justice and Justice Arijit Banerjee tagged PBT’s public interest litigation (PIL) against lawyers’ strike with a pending case initiated by advocate groups against alleged police atrocity in a court in Howrah and fixed both cases for hearing on Wednesday (May 8). The entire court system in West Bengal has been completely shut down for the past two weeks as the agitating advocates started an indefinite strike in demand of immediate suspension of the accused police officers. The PIL was filed by PBT against an unlawful lawyers’ strike that crippled Calcutta High Court services for more than 2 months in 2018.
When Mr. Ranjit Sarkar, PBT executive committee member and authorized agent went to the chief justice’s court room this morning to plead in this PIL on behalf of PBT (since all advocates joined the ongoing lawyers’ strike), large number of rowdy advocates physically heckled him and prevented him from approaching the bench as both the cases were adjourned till May 13. PBT has issued a press statement condemning this shocking and unruly behavior by licensed advocates. Ordinary people and justice-seekers pay the ultimate price when our law-protectors become law-violators (see below). PBT is planning to move the Apex Court that has repeatedly declared that lawyers have no right to strike causing endless harm and misery to the ordinary litigants.
Press Release (May 8, 2019) Lawyers’ Strike
