No interview on HC precincts
Kolkata: The Calcutta HC's Registrar General issued a notice on Wednesday requesting litigants and advocates not to give interviews to the "press and electronic media" using the high court precinct.
The notice stated, "All litigant public, any other person/persons, and all Ld. Advocates are hereby requested to restrain themselves from using the precincts of the Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta (especially the space between Gate-B and Gate-C of the Main Building and the space in front of the Centenary Building) while giving interviews or delivering speeches on social media, or before the press or electronic media without specific permission in writing by the Hon'ble Court.
This notice is issued with the approval of the Hon'ble the Chief Justice."
A section of lawyers linked it to the Feb 28 incident when a YouTuber alleged she was harassed by lawyers at Gate-B, and the lawyers alleged she was taking a video of their meeting. Advocate Biswabrata Basu Mallick blamed the ban on the YouTubers at these gates, which led to chaos.
Senior Standing Counsel Sirsanya Bandopadhyay said, "I don't see it as a clampdown on media rights. There continues to be a press corner. Initially, the space between Gate-B and Gate-C of the Main Building and the space in front of Centenary Building was used for giving press bytes, but that has now turned into chaos," he said.
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