Advocate Tapas Bhanja: Corruption in court. Picture by Amit Datta

Advocate Tapas Bhanja will seek the revival of his corruption case against high court employees after 15 years and “several attempts” on his life.

“Malpractice by a section of employees may stall the functioning of the court. Certain cases are not being listed. If listed, they are not being heard. The common litigants and lawyers are the worst sufferers. The situation has prompted me to request the chief justice to restore the case I filed in 1993,” said Bhanja.

He has been trying to submit the letter since Monday. Officials told him to hand it over to Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar once he returns to Calcutta.

The lawyer had moved the court in 1993, demanding action against corrupt employees. Justice Padma Khastagir had appointed him a special officer to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

“I placed the report before the court, but the judge retired within a few days and no action was taken,” said Bhanja.

The case was not heard after that till it was dropped in June 2004. “In between, I was threatened several times and was attacked many times on the road. After a bomb attack on my Behala house in May 2002, the court directed the police to provide me security. I still enjoy police protection, but despite the arrangement, my car was attacked by criminals in January 2003.”

According to court insiders, a petitioner must pay at least Rs 2,500 to officials to have his case listed and to get a certified copy of the court order.

“The amount goes up if the jurisdiction of the judge assigned to hear the case changes. The case goes back to the old position on the list and the petitioners have to bribe officials to have it listed again,” said an insider.

“The system of taking money from litigants has existed in the court for several years. Everybody knows about it. But there’s little the administration can do unless a specific complaint is lodged by a litigant,” said a senior court official.