Justice makes a rallying call for efficiency

Backstage

 Few individuals have managed to ruffle feathers in recent times as Justice Amitava Lala of the Calcutta High Court. The judge was on his way to the high court on the morning of September 24 and faced a problem that every Calcuttan endures for approximately one-third of the working days in the city: he was stuck in stalled traffic as a procession seeking justice for tribal people passed by.

 There were policemen around who said they could not clear a passage for the justice to reach the court. And mind you, he was not the only judge stuck in the jam: several others, including the Chief Justice, were also stuck. Most justices of the court reached late that day, and work at the high court was hampered because many lawyers and court officials were similarly delayed.

 His exalted status, and a determination to take action against the inconvenience he had faced, induced Justice Lala alone among his peers to summon the police to his court, conduct suo moto proceedings and, on September 29, as the court went into its recess, pronounced a judgement incorporating 12 guidelines on rallies and processions in the city.

 To be fair, the justice stated,