Kolkata, Dec 13: The Bar Council of West Bengal, spearheading the month-old statewide ceasework by lawyers in protest against the hike in court fees, today extended it to December 20 and sought the intervention of chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee in lowering the fees.
"The council has decided to extend the ongoing ceasework till December 20," its chairman Amiya Chatterjee told reporters after a meeting of the body.
During this period, he said, the council would hold statewide demonstrations and a rally would be brought out in the metropolis on December 16 to press for its demand.
Claiming that the West Bengal court fee (amendment) bill, 2002, passed in the state assembly yesterday had not reduced the court fees from those in the ordinance earlier promulgated by the state government, Chatterjee sought the intervention of the chief minister in bringing them down.
Speaking during the debate on the bill in the assembly yesterday, Bhattacharjee had appealed to the lawyers to end their ceasework.
Bhattacharjee pointed out that the government had taken steps like filling up of vacant posts in courts and setting up of circuit benches, besides other measures to mitigate the problems of the litigant public. Bureau Report