Shaktinath Mukherjee, the counsel of the Bar Association of the Calcutta High Court, moved the plea that the comments made by the three leaders at a rally a day after the HC’s observations on the Nandigram firing came at a time when special leave petitions filed by state government challenging the order was pending in the Supreme Court.

Samaraditya Pal, who appeared for Biman Bose, said his client’s comments on the judiciary at a rally on November 17, 2007 were not properly reported in the media.

On November 16, 2007, the Calcutta HC had held the police firing in Nandigram in which 14 people dies was unconstitutional.

The court had also directed the state government to pay compensation to the victims’ families.

The next day, Bose, Kongar and Chakraborty had allegedly attacked the judiciary accusing it of bias.

The HC issued a suo motu contempt notice to the three leaders on November 27, 2007 after being informed by the Bar Association and the Bar Library Club.

Earlier, in his affidavit, Bose had said he had criticised the judgment reasonably at a rally, which should not be treated as contempt.