Kolkata: A two-hour dharna by lawyers today (Sep 8, 2004) turned into day-long cease-work stalling the functioning of different courts in West Bengal, including the Calcutta High Court, with agitators attaching local issues to the Bar Council of India's protest against the recent 'assault' on advocates in Lucknow by the police.

The Calcutta High Court wore a deserted look with the judges rising for the day after some time in the absence of lawyers.

It was the same scene in smaller courts Statewide, Bar Council of West Bengal sources told reporters in Kolkata.

State Bar Council Chairman Sanantan Mukherjee claimed that the organisation had only called a dharna, but denied having anything to do with the mass abstention of lawyers from courts.

Over 52,000 lawyers stayed away from their professional duties in protest against 'police atrocities', State Bar Council executive committee member Ashok Deb said.

Lawyers in the State, apart from the Lucknow issue, also demanded withdrawal of the block-level pre-litigation conciliation Bill, which was tabled in the State Assembly in its last session in August, he said.