PTI

Kolkata, Mar 2: In an unprecedented move, the Calcutta High Court on Friday sentenced West Bengal's police chief, a district magistrate, a superintendent of police and 15 others to imprisonment for six months for failing to ensure the smooth functioning of a district court during a protest.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice K K Prasad passed the order in a packed courtroom in Kolkata.

It held Director General of Police A B Vohra and others, including former Union minister Debi Prasad Roy, guilty of criminal contempt of court in connection with the disruption in the functioning of the Jalpaiguri district court and other subordinate courts for nearly a month by protestors who were demanding the setting up of a circuit bench of the high court in the district.

The court, however, stayed the sentence for three weeks to allow the contemnors to appeal.

There was an "unprecedented breakdown" of the constitutional machinery for a month in Jalpaiguri when no court in the district could function due to the protest, the bench observed while passing its order.

The court also fined the contemnors Rs 2,000 each and directed that they undergo another month of imprisonment if they failed to pay the fine.

Immediately after the order, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who also holds the home portfolio, held an urgent meeting with Law Minister Rabilal Moitra and top officials where it was decided to appeal the order in the Supreme Court.

"We will definitely appeal against the High Court's order," Moitra told PTI.