TMC leader's lawyer accused of trying to access judge's chamber asks Calcutta HC CJ for probe, claims innocence

After Calcutta High Court Justice Suvra Ghosh alleged that a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader's lawyer and the judge’s private secretary colluded and attempted to access case records from her chamber, the lawyer has now written to the Chief Justice of the High Court seeking an enquiry.

The lawyer in question, Mousumi Bhowal, appeared as the advocate-on-record for Trinamool Congress leader Sujit Bose in his bail plea before Justice Ghosh. She has also sought preservation of CCTV footage of the front room in the judge's chambers.

Justice Ghosh had reserved judgment on Bose's bail application on August 17. Bose was before the High Court challenging an order of a sessions court which had rejected his bail plea in a case linked to a municipal recruitment scam being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

After she reserved verdict in the matter on August 17, Justice Ghosh on August 19 recused herself from case after alleging that Bose's lawyer and the judge’s private secretary attempted to access case records from her chamber. According to the judge, while she was in the courtroom, one of the lawyers appearing for Bose, along with judge's private secretary, went to the judge's chamber on August 18 and asked her staff to bring out the records of the case. The staff refused, following which the two allegedly tried to enter the chamber and insisted on seeing the records.

She further stated that in view of the “deliberate attempt” to access Bose's records, she considered it appropriate to release the matter from her board.

Though the judge did not name any lawyer, Bhowal, in a sworn affidavit annexed to her letter to the Chief Justice, has given her own account of what happened on August 18.

According to the affidavit, she was informed at around 2:25 PM that day by Advocate Nahid Ahmed - junior to Senior Advocate Sabyasachi Banerjee who appeared for Bose - that the court officer posted at court room No. 15 wanted her there to collect copies of judgments. Ahmed is said to have conveyed this over a phone call and a WhatsApp message.

The court officer, identified in the affidavit as Shikha Mukherjee, personal secretary to Justice Ghosh, met Bhowal in court room No. 15 at about 2:35 PM and asked her to accompany her to the Sesquicentenary Building so that she could point out which judgments were needed, the affidavit said.

Bhowal has stated that Mukherjee then took her into the judges' corridor and to the front room of Justice Ghosh's chamber between 2:40 pm and 2:42 PM on August 18. There, two court staff members were present. The affidavit states that Mukherjee then asked the court staff to produce the case record.

"I have not uttered any word," Bhowal said in the affidavit, describing her own conduct. The court staff on duty is stated to have told Mukherjee that the file was with Justice Ghosh and could not be shown to her.

As per the affidavit, Bhowal "immediately left the said place without saying anything."

Bhowal claims that Mukherjee later asked her in the corridor of the Sesquicentenary Building to hand over copies of two judgments that Senior Advocate Banerjee had referred to at the time of hearing. Bhowal says she then handed over copies of orders passed by Justice Ghosh on December 16, 2024 and on December 19, 2025 at 3:10 PM.

"I have never connived with the learned Court Officer to bring out the record of the case with an oblique motive. I have never tried to enter the chamber of Her Ladyship the Hon'ble Justice Suvra Ghosh on 18.08.2026 in between 2.40 PM to 2.42 PM," Bhowal has said in the affidavit.

She has further stated that she later learnt from Ahmed that Mukherjee had called Banerjee's registered clerk on August 18 seeking copies of the judgments. Screenshots of the WhatsApp exchange with Ahmed and of the call log have been annexed to the affidavit in support of her account.

In her letter to the Chief Justice, Bhowal has stated that the matter suddenly appeared as "To Be Mentioned" before Justice Ghosh on August 19 and that the judge, in her presence, released it after arriving at observations that could adversely affect her career.

"In the above facts and circumstances, I humbly request you to conduct an enquiry, so that I can prove my innocence. CCTV footage of the front room of the Chamber of Her Ladyship the Hon'ble Justice Suvra Ghosh may kindly be preserved," Bhowal has written.