10 April 2025 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): Guwahati: Assam’s advocate general Devajit Saikia on Tuesday filed two criminal contempt petitions against three lawyers including the high court bar association president over their remarks last month during a protest against the relocation of the Gauhati High Court.
The high court is to be shifted from its present location in the heart of Guwahati to Rangmahal in north Guwahati, about 20 km away where a judicial township is proposed to be constructed.
The Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) has opposed the relocation plan, claiming that it would be difficult for the public to access the new place and alleged lack of transparency in the entire decision-making process.
The contempt petitions filed by Saikia were based on remarks by two lawyers during a protest in March against the relocation. A bench of chief justice Vijay Bishnoi and justice N Unni Krishnan Nair on Tuesday heard the two petitions against GHCBA president Kamal Nayan Choudhury and advocates Pallavi Talukdar and Anil Kumar Bhattacharyya under the Contempt of Court Act.
The bench has reserved its order on the petitions.
In his petitions, Saikia alleged that advocates Talukdar and Bhattacharyya “committed criminal contempt by making scandalous remarks against an individual judge as well as the high court”. The two petitions also named GHCBA president Choudhury as a respondent, alleging that the offensive remarks by the two advocates were made with his “consent and connivance”.
During the protests, the advocates also questioned the presence of justice Suman Shyam of the high court at a meeting between chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and chief justice Bishnoi on March 8 to “review the master plan of the newly constructed Gauhati High Court at Rangmahal”. The chief minister had posted about the meeting along with photos on his official X handle
Saikia last month resigned from the bar association following its sharp stance on the relocation plan, underlining that he had to stand by the decision of the high court and the state government on the relocation plan.
On Monday, Saikia asked the high court’s registrar general not to list any matter in the court of justice Suman Shyam in which he is appearing as a counsel. In his letter, Saikia said the request was to “avoid any controversy” since justice Suman Shyam’s name had cropped up in the statements made by the advocates and in the criminal petitions moved by him.
On Tuesday, the registrar (judicial) of the high court issued the notification to this effect.
Summary: Assam’s Advocate General Devajit Saikia filed two criminal contempt petitions against three lawyers over their remarks during a protest against the relocation of the Gauhati High Court.