Kolkata, Jul 14 (IANS): Trinamool Congress' national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday accused Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court, without taking his name, of giving “protection to anti-social elements”.

Banerjee said this in connection with successive orders passed by Justice Mantha giving the leader of opposition in state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, shield against coercive action, including arrest, in a number of cases filed against him by the state police.

“There is one judge who is giving protection to anti-social elements. Even if he (Adhikari) is involved in criminal activities, he cannot be arrested. If I am jailed on contempt charges for these comments, I am ready to go behind bars 10,000 times. But I will still tell the truth,” Banerjee said.

He said the judge he referred to is giving protection to Adhikari and his close confidants.

“Will you give protection if I seek the same? I will call a spade a spade no matter what action is taken against me,” said the Trinamool Lok Sabha MP.

Reacting to his comments, state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said that Banerjee is targeting the judiciary, understanding very well that he is heading for a major disaster in the coming days.

Earlier, Trinamool spokesman Kuna Ghosh too had attacked Justice Mantha by directly naming him.Slanderous posters were pasted on the walls of the residence of Justice Mantha the very next morning. What followed was boycott of Justice Mantha’s bench by a section of the advocates close to the ruling party.

They not only boycotted Justice Mantha’s bench, but also prevented other advocates from attending his court. The chaos continued for over a week.