Additional Public Prosecutors hampering district court functioning: Calcutta High Court directs State to take action

The Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the State to submit an action taken report against Additional Public Prosecutors (APP) who were restraining litigants, clerks and lawyers from appearing before a district judge after a fight with the Public Prosecutor (PP) for that court. [Shibshankar Mahato v State].A Bench of Acting Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also directed the government pleader to speak with the concerned authorities and ensure that the dispute is resolved so that courts start functioning in a smooth manner."State owes a responsibility to ensure that normalcy is restored," the Court observed..As per the plea, proceedings at the sessions courts under the jurisdiction of the District and Sessions Judge, Purba Bardhaman have been hampered since March 24. Additional Public Prosecutors had called for an indefinite strike seeking the removal of the Public Prosecutor for the district court.On March 28, the APPs had asked the Public Prosecutor in question not to conduct matters before the court. However, the PP refused to do so, resulting in a violent fight among the lawyers. Physical injuries were sustained as a result.The district magistrate refused to remove the PP even after the Burdwan Bar Association addressed a representation to him.Owing to the strike, the right to free and fair administration of justice has fallen prey to the personal interests of officers of the court, the petitioner has stated..The petitioner counsel informed the High Court that there are many lawyers involved here, and not the APPs and PP.The plea stated that the Burdwan Bar Association called for a meeting to address the issues of its members regarding the fact that innocent litigants are languishing in jail or police custody since no bail or trial hearings are being conducted in any of the sessions courts. However, the meeting yielded nothing fruitful."The common litigants same as the Petitioner without any fault of their own have been victims of unwanted circumstances and their matters are going unrepresented in the Court of law," the petition reads.The petitioner thus prayed for directions to restore the normal functioning of the courts. He also sought the constitution of a fact-finding committee to identify the source of the dispute..The matter will be heard next on April 24.Advocate Ahana Ghosh Mandal represented petitioner.