The high court could not function on Tuesday with lawyers starting a 10-day ceasework demanding steps to fill up 18 vacant posts of judges.

The show of solidarity was, however, marred by a few dissenting voices threatening to defy the strike.

Judges, court officials and litigants had turned up but cases could not be heard as there were no lawyers around. Five litigants moved their cases in person.

Officials said the high court had been functioning with only 40 judges, against its sanctioned strength of 58.

Leaders of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association, who called the ceasework in defiance of the Supreme Court ban on strikes, said more than 3.5 lakh cases were pending because of the lack of adequate number of judges.

Apart from the 6,000-odd members of the bar association, about 1,000 members of the Bar Library Club (association of barristers) and 600 of the Incorporated Law Society (organisation of law firm owners) joined the strike.

Dissent, however, surfaced in the bar association ranks on the first day of the strike, with around 120 members holding a meeting on the court premises and demanding an immediate end to the ceasework. But the lawyers failed to arrive at a decision as both the secretary and the president of the association stayed away.

Arunava Ghosh, who presided over the dissidents’ meeting, said: “If the ceasework is not withdrawn by tomorrow, we will join court on Thursday.”

Ghosh alleged that the association leaders did not inform the other members about their decision on the strike.

“A meeting called by association secretary Rana Mukherjee on October 30 decided that the lawyers would go on an indefinite strike if the vacant posts were not filled up by November 30. But later in the day, the president, secretary and a few other members held another meeting and decided on a 10-day ceasework from November 3,” Ghosh said.

Bar association president Sardar Amjad Ali said over the phone that he was unaware of any demand for withdrawal of the strike. “A meeting of the bar association cannot be held keeping the president in the dark,” said Ali.