Calcutta HC judges pay final respects to Somnath Chatterjee

Judges of the Calcutta High Court led by Chief Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya paid their last respects to Somnath Chatterjee, whose body was brought to the court premises where he practised for several years as a barrister.

The Bar Library Club, of which he was a member, the Bar Association and many lawyers also paid floral tributes to the departed former speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Apart from the chief justice, justices Debasish Kargupta, Joymalyo Bagchi, Dipankar Dutta and Arijit Banerjee were among the judges who laid wreaths on the body of Chatterjee.

Bar Library Club president Jayanta Mitra paid rich tributes to Chatterjee, with whom he had worked for many years from the early 1970's.

"I was privileged to have worked with him. I witnessed from close quarters his advocacy, his astute legal brain and personality in court," Mitra, a former advocate general of West Bengal, said.

"He used to dominate wherever he appeared, whether in courts or as a member of Parliament and as a speaker," Mitra said.

The Bar Library Club took a resolution not to attend high court today as a mark of respect. The resolution was also adopted by the Bar Association and Incorporated Law Society.