Lawyers to abstain from Justice Sharma's swearing-in, may skip his court

The Bar Association, the Bar Library Club and the Incorporated Law Society urged the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court in joint representation not to assign any judicial work to Justice Sharma

Expressing anguish at the transfer of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma from the Delhi High Court to the Calcutta High Court, lawyers' bodies here have jointly informed the Chief Justice that they would abstain from attending the swearing-in ceremony of the judge and may not appear before his court.

Justice Sharma was transferred from Delhi to the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday.

The Bar Association, the Bar Library Club and the Incorporated Law Society also urged the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court in a joint representation not to assign any judicial work to Justice Sharma, whose transfer was notified by the Union government on a recommendation by the Collegium of the Supreme Court.

"In the event, any determination is assigned to the Learned Judge, there is a possibility that our members may not appear before the Learned Judge," they said in the representation.

Lawyers stayed away from attending proceedings at the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday to protest the recommendation for the transfer of Justice Sharma from the Delhi High Court to this court.

Expressing reservation at the recommendation of the Collegium of the Supreme Court to transfer the judge to the Calcutta High Court, the three associations had earlier sent a joint representation to the Chief Justice of India.

"While we are conscious of regular transfers in usual course of administration of justice, we have reasons to believe that this transfer does not fall in that category," the representation to the CJI said.

"Being the oldest Constitutional Temple of the country, the High Court at Calcutta conceivably does not deserve to have a transferred judge with, either questionable image or a short stint," it said.

The lawyers' bodies, in their representation to the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, said that apart from staying away from attending the said judge's swearing-in and his court, they are working out other modes of protest by which they can "effectively convey" their opposition to the transfer of the said judge, without disturbing other courts.

The lawyers' bodies have also urged the Additional Solicitor General and the Advocate General not to attend the judge's swearing-in ceremony.