Few lawyers turn up at weekend court hearings

The Story in Brief

On July 3, Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty notified that July 6 would be a holiday to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee and that the Calcutta High Court would sit on Saturday, August 1 to make up the working day. The court had earlier, in December 2025, set a roster of 210 working days and 61 scheduled holidays besides regular weekends and normally does not sit on weekends except for urgent matters. The Calcutta High Court Bar Association passed a resolution urging judges not to pass ex-parte orders, saying many lawyers might be unable to attend special Saturday sittings. In Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya’s courtroom the judge called 130 listed matters, recorded “Not Today” for each as no state counsel appeared, and concluded at 11.10 am. Separately, activist Sujato Bhadra filed a PIL seeking an independent judicial inquiry into the custodial death of Prabhas Mondal; the court listed the new PIL for hearing on August 18 alongside existing petitions after the state said similar petitions were pending.

The Indian Opinion

The reporting presents two distinct administrative and legal threads: a court scheduling change to meet its announced roster and a serious allegation about a custodial death. The Bar Association’s request that judges avoid ex-parte orders reflects a legitimate concern about fairness when lawyer turnout is low. At the same time, human rights activists’ claim that police did not act on a July 4 warning and that the accused died in custody four days later is a grave allegation now subject to court processes. The state has noted similar petitions and a status report; given those procedural steps, clear conclusions about responsibility or systemic failure would be premature until the court considers evidence.

Original article: Weekend hearings see thin lawyer turnout (The Times of India)

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.