The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to report on action taken after an alleged attack on the home of senior lawyer and former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya in Kolkata, after lawyers raised the matter before the court on Thursday.
The court directed the state to inform it on Friday about steps taken in incidents involving attacks on lawyers. The issue was raised during proceedings after glass bottles were allegedly thrown at Bhattacharya’s home in the Purba Jadavpur police station area in the early hours of Thursday. The incident has also brought questions about police response and security around legal professionals into the courtroom.
Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam said the state had been asked to increase security on the court premises and urged lawyers not to resort to a strike. “The court has told the state to increase security in the court premises,” he said, according to Anandabazar. The Chief Justice also asked lawyers to maintain faith in the court and said the incident should be properly investigated.
Trinamool Congress MP and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee told the court that lawyers who oppose the state government were in a vulnerable position. He argued that the incident was not merely a problem involving lawyers, alleging that people from outside had attacked them and asking what the police and intelligence agencies were doing. He also said residents at the house were frightened.
The state’s Advocate General, Rajdeep Majumdar, said the police would take action. During the exchange, Banerjee referred to an alleged attack involving Shamim Ahmed and four vehicles, saying an FIR had been registered but questioning what happened afterwards. He also referred to an earlier incident in Baruipur, alleging that no arrests had followed. The report did not provide details of the cases cited during the hearing or the state’s account of their investigation status.
Bhattacharya said the attack took place at about 5 am. According to his account, a person arrived on a scooter and threw liquor bottles at the windows of his home, while others were present behind him. He alleged that the attackers abused him and said a domestic worker at the house narrowly escaped harm. He also alleged that the attackers were “Hindutva goons”.
The report said CCTV footage from the property showed a person with his face covered, arriving on a motorcycle, leaving it outside the house and removing glass bottles from a bag. The footage allegedly captured threats directed at Bhattacharya. Anandabazar stated that it had not independently verified the authenticity of the footage.
The incident has drawn responses across political lines. Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the alleged attack in a social-media post, noting that she and Bhattacharya had been on opposite sides ideologically and legally but had retained mutual courtesy. She said she had spoken to him and would visit his home after returning from Delhi, adding that attacks of this kind could not be supported.
The state is expected to place its response before the Calcutta High Court on Friday. The court’s direction and the government’s account of the police investigation will determine the next stage of proceedings.
