A Division Bench of Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose directed the Registrar-General of the court to issue notices to the leaders asking them why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them. The Bench was hearing a plea moved by the counsel of the Bar Association and the Bar Library Club of Calcutta High Court.

The matter will come up for hearing after two weeks.

The counsel alleged that the remarks made by the leaders were defamatory in nature and had maligned the judiciary. Advocate Shaktinath Mukherjee, who moved the plea on their behalf, said the Bench should pass a suo motu order after judging the merit of the applications. The Bench had earlier refused to pass a suo motu order in this regard.

In a public meeting on November 17, Biman Bose had said: “We feel the court has interfered in the state’s domain. If the High Court has the last word on everything, what is the use of having a legislature and an executive? Will the court decide the government’s course of action?” Konar and Chakraborty, who were also present at the rally, had also attacked the judiciary.

Konar, a CPM farm front leader, had been quoted as saying: “We never knew that the governor, High Court, media and civil society could suffer such pangs of conscience. Everybody’s conscience seems to be terribly stirred.”

Chakraborty, who is also the state president of CITU, the CPM’s labour arm, had reportedly said: “The High Court has said it (the police firing) had been unconstitutional and unjustified. Then what is the need for a CBI inquiry?”

In their petitions, the Bar Association and the Bar Library Club alleged that the CPM leaders had launched a deliberate attack on the judiciary, expressing their displeasure over the order.