Cops face contempt fire

Calcutta High Court gave the government till 10.30am on Wednesday to remove agitating Citu workers from the premises of Hotel Hindusthan International (HHI) or face “contempt proceedings”.
The rap was delivered on Tuesday afternoon by Justice Sanjib Banerjee on the basis of photographs showing posters, banners, festoons and placards cluttering the front gate of the hotel.
The court set a deadline for the police to move against protesters affiliated to the ruling party’s labour wing to implement an earlier order.
The judge, in his order, said that he would issue contempt rule against the state administration and police authorities — home secretary Ardhendu Sen, police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti. the deputy commissioner of police (south), and officers-in-charge of Bhowanipore and Shakespeare Sarani police stations — if the order was not carried out properly.
Citu-affiliated Karmachari Union of the hotel has been staging an agitation at the hotel entrance for two weeks to press for several demands, including pay hike and union elections.
The court saw red on Tuesday following a contempt petition moved by the hotel management alleging that even after the January 15 order, the police had not taken any action against the Citu workers.
“Prima-facie, the court held that the police had committed contempt of court by not carrying out its order and issued contempt rule against the police authorities,” said advocate Ananta Shaw.
“But on the basis of a prayer made by the state lawyer, the judge awarded a little more time to the police and asked them to remove the agitators along with their posters and banners by 10.30am on Wednesday,” added Shaw, who assisted advocate Arunava Ghosh, counsel for the hotel management.
Advocate Manik Das, appearing for Citu, claimed that his clients were not violating the earlier court order that had banned protests “within 50 metres” of the hotel premises. “My clients are staging peaceful protests outside the hotel premises,” said Das.
Mohammed Nizamuddin, the vice-president of Citu, also claimed that the protests were being staged in keeping with the court order. “We are yet to receive the court’s order but our members are not doing anything within 50 metres of the hotel. The hotel management has given a false statement to the court implicating our members,” he alleged.
When Media visited the hotel on Tuesday evening, the front gate — certainly not 50 metres from the AJC Bose Road hospitality address premises — was adorned with red posters and flags.
“We have heard that the high court has ruled that the police will have to remove the posters and protesters by 10.30am on Wednesday. We have full faith in the system and hope that the court order will be implemented,” said a spokesperson for the HHI management.
According to Tuesday’s court order, the police will have to submit a compliance report after 10.30am on Wednesday.
Till late on Tuesday, the police seemed reluctant to force the issue. “There is no question of evicting protesters from the HHI because there is no one within 50 metres of the hotel,” said Rajesh Subarno, the deputy commissioner of police (south).
But the court order clearly directs the police to act against the protesters as well as the protest platform at the gate, replete with flags and posters.
The hotel management in its petition to the court had stated that the protesters were inconveniencing guests and even causing loss of business. The cancellation of bookings by some private companies and by the British Council in Calcutta had been cited to show how the Citu-led agitation at the gate was hitting the hotel where it hurts.
Can contempt proceedings be drawn against Citu in such a case? Legal experts said that since the hotel management had moved the court against police inaction, the contempt rule would be against the police. “But if the police in their report state that the agitators were holding the demonstration forcibly, Citu could be implicated in the contempt proceedings,” an expert said.