Calcutta High Court Bar Association president Arunabha Ghosh on Wednesday said that no lawyer carries paperweights to courtrooms, in an apparent retort to a reported comment by a judge.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay is reported to have said on Tuesday that he had allowed videography of proceedings of a case in his courtroom by journalists recently after becoming aware that some people were standing with paperweights.
"Please don't be afraid of the lawyers, because today in the newspapers it came out that we go with paperweights to place our cases, it's not that. We place our cases, that may vary with the judge," Ghosh said in his welcome address at the swearing-in of nine new judges at the Calcutta High Court.
Stating that lawyers "do not carry paperweights", he assured the judges of all cooperation from their part to the judiciary. "We have a very nice set of judges, very honest and we have very cordial relations with all," Ghosh said.
Justice Gangopadhyay had allowed videography of proceedings of a teacher appointment-related case involving senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal's daughter on August 18. This led to a protest by Ghosh in the courtroom.
Senior lawyers had claimed that there was no precedence of allowing videography by journalists in the high court. The judge has ordered CBI investigations in several cases relating to irregularities in the recruitments of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools.
(With PTI inputs)
