Bengal govt lawyers end boycott of Calcutta HC judge

West Bengal government-empanelled lawyers at Calcutta High Court on Tuesday lifted a boycott of Justice Samapti Chattopadhyay's court, within a day of taking such a decision.

Additional government pleader Bhaskar Baishya said they have decided to attend the court of Justice Samapti Chattopadhyay from Wednesday.

"The issues over which the decision of not attending Justice Chattopadhyay's court has been amicably resolved and we will attend her court and plead cases as usual," Baishya said.

State-empanelled lawyers at the high court Monday told Justice Chattopadhyay that henceforth they will not attend her court.

An indignant Justice Chattopadhyay had later asked whether the West Bengal government-empanelled lawyers mean to say that she is doing injustice to her chair.

"Determination (assignment of cases) is given to me by the Chief Justice and not by the government lawyers. Give respect to the chair," she said while hearing a case challenging a confidence vote at Bongaon Municipality.

State-empanelled lawyers did not appear before the court of Justice Chattopadhyay during the hearing of the Bongaon municipality case or any other matter on Monday.

"The way the judge is heckling government lawyers during hearing of various cases, it is not possible for us to attend her court," Baishya, also the chairman of Trinamool Congress Lawyers' Cell, had said outside the courtroom.

Justice Chattopadhyay, who holds the determination of Municipal Affairs, had made some caustic comments against the state government last week over conducting of confidence votes in some civic bodies.

During the hearing of a petition on July 15, Justice Chattopadhyay had observed that it is unfortunate that water bodies are being filled up randomly, with the government doing nothing about it.

Everybody seems to know what is happening around, except the government, she had said.

Justice Chattopadhyay was also involved in a verbal exchange with senior counsel and TMC MP Kalyan Bandopadhyay on Thursday when the Bongaon Municipality matter was mentioned before her court.

During a hearing on Friday, Justice Chattopadhyay had questioned the TMC chairman of Bongaon Municipality as to why he was trying to hold on to his chair when the majority of the councillors do not want him to continue in the post.

Justice Chattopadhyay had on July 19 stayed a meeting for holding a vote of confidence in the chairman of Halisahar Municipality on a plea by a councillor that the provision is being misused by the Trinamool Congress' head of the civic body to get protection.