Calcutta HC concludes hearing on contempt against Mamata

The Calcutta High Court concluded hearing on a plea for suo motu contempt against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday concluded hearing on a plea for suo motu contempt against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and reserved direction on whether a contempt rule would be issued against her for alleged comments against the judiciary.

A division bench presided over by Justice KJ Sengupta heard the opinion of two senior counsels who were appointed by it as amicus curiae to assist the court on whether the prayer could be taken forward. Advocates Hirak Mitra and Ranjan Deb told the court that they had gone through the contents of two newspapers and vernacular news channels and found these to be similar. They told the court that they were of the opinion that it had the jurisdiction to take the matter forward. The bench, concluding hearing on whether a contempt rule could be issued against Banerjee, reserved direction on it. The direction would be passed on a future date to be decided by the court. The bench had yesterday appointed the two senior counsels as amicus curiae to assist the court. Senior counsel Bikash Bhattacharya, former Kolkata mayor and a CPI(M) leader, had on August 16 made an oral plea before the bench praying for suo motu contempt proceedings against Banerjee, stating that the chief minister had during a seminar in the Assembly on August 14 allegedly made derogatory remarks about the judiciary. He had submitted two CDs containing the recordings of television reports and also copies of the two newspapers before the court and sought suo motu action against Banerjee. PTI