HC initiates contempt process against lawyers

PATNA: The Patna High Court constituted on Wednesday a special bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi S Dhavan, Justice Nagendra Rai, Justice S N Jha, Justice Radha Mohan Prasad, Chandra Mauli Kumar and Justice Anil Kumar Sinha to deliberate on the report of district judge of Patna Damodar Prasad about locking of the Patna City court by lawyers.
The bench, taking a serious view of the matter, initiated contempt process against those charged with locking the Patna City court.The bench directed the registrar general of the court to issue show-cause notice, asking them to explain why proceedings of criminal contempt should not be made against them for obstructing the administration of justice. The Patna DM has been asked to identify the culprits.
The lawyers of the Patna City court have locked the premises for the past few days to protest against lack of judicial magistrates in the City court, and they were unwilling to relent unless vacancies were filled. The lawyers, however, alleged that while there was a backlog of thousands of cases in the City court, at present only five magistrates were posted against 16, and posts have been lying vacant for over two years.
In a contempt case, the court hears the individual show-cause and then determines if the individual concerned should face charge of the contempt of court. The court then tries the individuals on the charge, and if found guilty, may sentence them to an imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both.
The lawyer fraternity of Patna is quite agitated and is meeting in groups to chart the future course of action. President of the Patna district bar association Jai Prakash Singh, while condemning the contempt move, has called for a general boycott of courts in Patna on Thursday. Singh said the lawyers are fighting for a public cause, and it is unfortunate that the court has taken a negative view of the matter.
Member of the superseded State Bar Council Baleshwar Sharma has called the step hasty. He said the court, instead, should have focused on the problem of lack of judges and the slow disposal of cases. Member of the Bar Council of India Ramchandra Jha is also rushing to Patna on Thursday from Ranchi.
Member of the three-member special committee of the State Bar Council Keshav Srivastava rushed to the the City court to pacify the lawyers. He tried to impress that the State Bar Council would take up their cause, but the lawyers were in no mood to listen to him.