By IANS,
Chennai : The Madras High Court’s acting Chief Justice S. Mukhopadhyay and Judge V. Dhanapalan Thursday expressed concern over the unruly behaviour of lawyers protesting against the killing of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.
“During our special mention before the division bench, citing attacks by lawyers against their colleagues and policemen, judges Mukhopadhyay and Dhanapalan observed that action will be initiated against anyone transgressing the law inside court premises if specific complaints are received,” A.P. Suryaprakasam, president of the Congress Legal Wing’s state unit, told IANS.
“The court observed that it intends to discuss the matter with the city police commissioner to curb the alleged lawlessness,” Suryaprakasam added.
“The judges were reacting to oral submissions by Suryaprakasam who cited several attacks on senior counsel and policemen within the high court’s premises since Jan 30,” said Syed Haroun, the body’s general secretary.
“Following the handover of specific complaints against several members of the bar and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, we expect action later in the day,” Haroun added.
Earlier in the day, a disappointed Magistrate N. Ravi chastised police officials and 23 advocates who were brought to his presence, and went home during the small hours after a six hour drama in his court, police officials said.
The ‘arrested’ lawyers refused to divulge their names and all of them asked the court clerk to enter “Prabhakaran” in the column for the identity of those to be remanded since Wednesday evening.
A huge group of over 150 lawyers who had gathered in support of the ‘arrested’ advocates smashed the windscreens of a police vehicle and allegedly abused policemen and the magistrate before dispersing. Eventually, the magistrate left without remanding the lawyers, the police officials said.
A sizeable section of angry lawyers are continuing to boycott courts all over Tamil Nadu to protest against the state and central governments’ alleged failure in pressurising the Sri Lankan government to prevent the killing of Tamils in the country.
On Jan 30, senior counsel A.A. Chelliah and his wife Vasanthi, in a complaint lodged in a police station inside the high court campus, alleged assault by Madras High Court Advocates’ Association members in the presence of judges Mukhopadhyay and Dhanapalan, a police official said.
So far, no action has been initiated against anyone in this regard, the official added.