Calcutta High Court refuses to entertain PIL to enforce advocate protection law, says it's up to State

The Calcutta High Court recently declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that sought directives to ensure the protection of lawyers through the enforcement of legislative measures..A Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice H Bhattacharyya explained that it is up to the State to bring about such measures, and that the courts cannot be expected to legislate."This court cannot legislate and the court can only interpret the law ... It is for the State of West Bengal to come forward with the legislation or adopt any Central legislation or to pass appropriate legislation has done by the other States, namely, the State of Rajasthan which has introduced the Rajasthan Advocates’ Protection Act, 2023," the September 5 order said. .However, the Court granted the petitioners the liberty to present their request before the State while disposing of their plea. .The Court passed the order on a petition filed by a not-for-profit company and a lawyer who sought the enforcement of legislative measures to provide safeguards so that advocates can carry out their professional duties without fear, violence, or harassment.The petitioners had also sought protection through the establishment of a dedicated monitoring committee or a task force to oversee the implementation of any guidelines issued on the issue.Additionally, the petitioners had requested the immediate installation and maintenance of functional CCTV cameras in critical areas and the creation of a dedicated cell for the prompt registration and investigation of complaints related to threats, harassment, or intimidation of advocates..The petition was disposed of by the Court after it noted that it cannot legislate on such issues."We grant liberty to the writ petitioner to pursue the writ petition before the State of West Bengal and if the representation is submitted ... the same shall be considered in accordance with law," the Court said, on a parting note.The State Bar Council of West Bengal shall also submit their views to the government of West Bengal for appropriate legislation in this regard, the Court added..Advocates Sandip Ray, S Srivastava, Shaondeep Chakraborty, Madhurima Sarkar, Aishwarya Nanda and Urmi Biswas appeared for the petitioners.Deputy Solicitor General of India Rajdeep Majumder and Advocate Samrat Ghosh appeared for the Union of India. .[Read Order]