Guwahati, July 27: Gauhati High Court was today thrown into turmoil as lawyers rose in protest against the alleged whimsical functioning of Chief Justice B.K. Roy and sought the intervention of the Chief Justice of India in resolving the row.

As many as 161 senior and junior lawyers of the high court today sent a representation to the Chief Justice of India, requesting the latter?s immediate intervention in the matter. The court?s functioning came to a standstill in the second half after some lawy-ers asked their colleagues not to enter the court premises.

Others, too, joined in, refraining from attending to cases as a mark of protest against the Chief Justice?s way of functioning.

Chief Justice Roy could not be reached for his comments despite several attempts.

Though tension was brewing among the lawyers for several weeks, a delay in issuance of the cause list ? which details the cases to be taken up in the day and in which room ? today sparked off the outpouring of resentment.

Lawyers said last-minute changes made by the Chief Justice in preparation of the cause list often brought about considerable delay in issuing the list to the advocates.

The majority of the advocates today received the cause list only when they reached the court for which they could not attend to their cases. ?I was not prepared for the case which was listed in today?s cause list. If the list was provided to me by last evening, I could have studied and prepared for the case,? an advocate said.

In the representation to the Chief Justice of India, the bar association said, ?Chief Justice Roy, by the manner of his functioning, has considerably vitiated the court?s atmosphere and it has adversely affected the functioning of the high court. His manner of conducting the High Court proceedings leave much to be desired and there is a fear amongst the concerned bar members that if things are allowed to go on as it is, the institution will suffer irreparable damage.?

The representation said the lawyers are not permitted to make their submissions due to unnecessary and often flippant interventions and irrelevant queries posed by the Chief Justice. According to the lawyers, the representation had become inevitable to protect the dignity of the high court.

It was mentioned in the representation that disposal of cases by the principal bench of the high court in Guwahati has suffered due to ?illogical and irrational? shifting of judges to the outlying benches in the region.