Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta has asked a counsel why lawyers from Delhi and Kolkata were being engaged when there was no dearth of good lawyers in Guwahati.
Chief Justice Mehta posed this question on a lighter note when the counsel made an adjournment request before the Gauhati High Court on Friday citing difficulties faced by a counsel from Kolkata to appear before the Court, Bar and Bench reported.
The request was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Devashis Baruah on Friday morning.
The appearing counsel, who represented the respondents in the matter, informed the Court that an adjournment was being sought with the consent of the other side.
On queries by the bench, another lawyer present informed the bench that a counsel from Kolkata had some difficulty.
In response, Chief Justice Mehta quipped that this cannot be a ground for adjournment.
“Guwahati has got such good counsel! Why do you need people from Calcutta? Do you feel that there is any question about the competency of Guwahati counsel? We find them very good … This can’t be ground for adjournment. You don’t threaten us with the presence of counsel from Calcutta or Delhi. We are not bothered … Okay (chuckles).”
The Court proceeded to allow the request for adjournment and posted the matter for hearing after six weeks, after noting that there was no objection made to the respondents’ request.