Dear All,
BCI condemns attack on lawyers:
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi: The Bar Council of India (BCI) at an emergency meeting on Sunday, condemned the “dastardly” attack by the police on advocates, litigants and staff of the Madras High Court, including a High Court Judge, inside the court premises on February 19. It demanded a judicial enquiry into the incident.
The meeting said, “Such an attack is an attack on the judicial system of the country which must be condemned by one and all. Considering the gravity of the incident, the Council deems it appropriate to make an appeal to the members of the legal fraternity of the country to observe February 27 as a ‘black day/protest day’ in condemnation of such brutal attack by police on the judicial system.”
It said the State Bar Councils, High Court and District Bar Associations would decide the mode and the manner in which the ‘black day/protest day’ was to be observed in a peaceful and democratic manner.
The meeting resolved to send a committee comprising S.N.P. Sinha, Chairman, BCI, and Members, Milan Kumar Dey, S. Gopakumaran Nair, Ashok Parija and M. Jagdeesh to Chennai to take stock of the situation and to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident. The Committee would meet the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Chairman of the State Bar Council and leaders of the bar associations.
It would also meet the Chief Minister and the Home Minister and demand that the police officials who were responsible for the attack be suitably punished. The Committee would also endeavour to bring about normality in the court premises to make the atmosphere conducive for normal functioning of the courts in the State.
The meeting requested the Chief Justice of the High Court to order a judicial probe by a retired High Court/Supreme Court judge to bring the guilty to book.
The BCI offered a sum of Rs.1 lakh to the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu as a token of solidarity with the members of the legal profession who were injured in the attack, to meet a part of their medical expenses.
Advocates to continue strike
Special Correspondent
They want DGP and Commissioner of Police removed immediately |
“File FIRs against Joint Commissioner Ramasubramanian and other subordinate officers”
“Institute judicial commission enquiry into the February 19 incidents
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) has resolved to continue its indefinite strike.
In a resolution passed unanimously at an extraordinary general body meeting held at the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu meeting hall on Sunday, the association decided to “abstain indefinitely from all courts, tribunals and forums.” It wanted the gates of all courts in the State to be opened immediately and Central forces sent to provide the courts with security.
The Association demanded that the Director General of Police and the Commissioner of Police for Chennai removed immediately.
It called for immediate registration of First Information Reports against, and the arrest, of Joint Commissioner Ramasubramanian and other subordinate officers involved in the clash with lawyers on the High Court premises on February 19.
It also decided to file individual complaints against the police by the affected lawyers and on its own. It requested all advocates, including public prosecutors and government pleaders, not to appear on behalf of police personnel in the case.
The Association wanted a judicial commission enquiry, led by a sitting High Court judge, into the incidents of February 19. It also resolved to organise a nationwide protest against what it called the attack on the judiciary.
A State-level committee has been formed to coordinate further action. Among the members are MHAA president R.C. Paul Kanagaraj; Bar Council of Tamil Nadu chairman R. Chandramohan; Bar Council of India member R. Dhanapalraj; Bar Association president R. Krishnamoorthy; Tamil Nadu Bar Federation president Paramasivam; and representatives from the Madurai, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore Bar Associations.
"If you do not strike back at him who hits you, there is no way for him to find out whether you also have hands”