A group of Calcutta High Court lawyers moved two separate prayers on Monday seeking legal action against the perpetrators of an alleged attack on senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya in court last Friday.

One petition was filed before the division bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, and the other before Justice Biswajit Basu.

The lawyers — led by advocate Kallol Basu — first moved the court of Justice Biswajit Basu seeking permission to move a contempt petition against those who allegedly attacked Bhattacharyya.

Last Friday, Justice Basu accepted a petition challenging the legality of the state cabinet’s decision to create supernumerary posts for teachers and non-teaching staff in secondary schools during appointments in 2021.

“Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya had challenged the legality of the decision. A section of the candidates recruited on the basis of the cabinet decision was behind the attack,” advocate Basu said .

“Since the attack happened after the admission of the case, the incident should be considered an attack on the judiciary. The court should allow us to move a contempt petition,” he added.

At this, Justice Biswajit Basu said: “Such attacks cannot be tolerated. As far as I know, the chief justice is looking into the issue. Even then, you mention the matter before this court tomorrow.”

The lawyers then mentioned the issue before the division bench headed by the chief justice and sought judicial intervention.

“The vicinity of Calcutta High Court is under Section 163 of the BNSS (erstwhile Section 144 of CrPC). There are curbs on large gatherings. But the lawyers are not safe here. The attack on a particular lawyer should be considered an attack on the judiciary,” advocate Basu said.

Chief Justice Sivagnanam said: “Yes, I got the information. An OSD informed me about the incident. Soon, I informed police. Later, the police sent some photographs and informed me that the situation was fully under control.”

The chief justice asked “who were those persons”.

Advocate Basu replied: “The original litigants.”

Chief Justice Sivagnanam said: “Surprisingly, the state advocate general informed me that nothing serious has happened.”

The chief justice then asked Basu to file the case.