The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to report on action taken in cases involving attacks on lawyers after members of the legal community raised the alleged assault at senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya’s home in Kolkata. The state has been asked to respond on Friday.
The issue was brought before the court on Thursday, when lawyers sought judicial intervention and asked that steps be taken in connection with the incident. Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said the state had already been asked to increase security within the court premises and urged lawyers not to resort to a work boycott.
“We have asked the state to increase security in the court premises,” the Chief Justice said, according to Anandabazar. He also told the lawyers to maintain faith in the court and said, “A proper investigation should be conducted.”
Senior lawyer and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee told the court that lawyers opposing the state government were in a vulnerable position. He said the incident was not merely a matter concerning lawyers and alleged that people from outside had attacked them. He also questioned the response of the police and intelligence agencies, saying that members of Bhattacharya’s household were frightened.
West Bengal’s Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar said the police would take action. During the hearing, he referred to an earlier incident in which slogans had allegedly been raised outside a judge’s residence under a previous government. Banerjee cited other alleged attacks, including an incident involving Shamim Ahmed and four vehicles, as well as a case in Baruipur, and questioned the progress of investigations and arrests.
The reported attack on Bhattacharya’s home took place early Thursday at his residence in the East Jadavpur police station area. According to the report, glass bottles were allegedly thrown at the house, breaking window panes. Bhattacharya, a senior lawyer and former Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha member, alleged that the attackers were “Hindutva goons”.
Bhattacharya said the incident occurred at about 5 am. He alleged that a person arrived on a scooter and threw liquor bottles at the windows while others were present nearby. The attackers allegedly abused him and threatened him. Bhattacharya also said that his domestic worker narrowly escaped harm.
The report said security camera footage from the house showed a person with his face covered by a cloth arriving on a motorcycle, leaving the vehicle outside the residence and throwing bottles from a bag. The alleged threats were also said to have been recorded in the audio. Anandabazar stated that it had not independently verified the authenticity of the footage.
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the incident in a social media post and said that although she and Bhattacharya had stood on opposite sides politically and ideologically for 15 years, mutual courtesy had remained intact. She said she had spoken to him and would visit his home after returning from Delhi. The High Court’s direction requires the state to report on the action taken in cases involving attacks on lawyers.
