Advocates boycott courts, want police top brass sacked

Mangaloretoday/ DHNS

Bangalore, March 5, 2012, DHNS: Advocates on Monday boycotted court proceedings across the State and resolved to continue their agitation till Director-General and Inspector General of Police Shankar Bidari and City Police Commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji were dismissed.

They also accused the media of “bias” for blacking out “police atrocities” against lawyers. A meeting chaired by the Advocates Association Bangalore (AAB) president decided that no lawyer should defend mediapersons in any case.

 

 

The Halasuru Gate police station in the City has so far registered 61 cases in connection with Friday’s violence at the City Civil Courts complex. A huge rally by mediapersons in the City added more drama, even as the State Government contemplated shifting the Lokayukta and CBI courts from the troubled City Civil Courts complex to prevent clashes.   
The government is also mulling over providing a designated area, preferably outside courts, for the electronic media to cover proceedings, official sources said.
Meanwhile, a top police official revealed that the entire incident on Friday could have been handled better by the city police. The violence could have been controlled in just 15 minutes.

Although  Mirji was directed to ensure the immediate arrest of a few troublemakers for “deliberately” creating violence, he chose to delay the process, the official said. When asked again to act, Mirji reportedly said his hands were tied as he had clear instructions from Home Minister R Ashoka not to arrest any advocate, added the official.

The official also disclosed that around 60 advocates, who wreaked havoc on journalists, had the backing of a regional political party. They had come to the court fully prepared to execute their plan. The party leader is learnt to have forced Ashoka to direct Mirji not to arrest the troublemakers.

A majority of lawyers on Monday kept off the courts, responding to a boycott call given by the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) and the AAB. A few courts in the High Court complex were open in the morning. But the cases listed were adjourned as there were no advocates to represent them.

Hundreds of mediapersons took out a protest march demanding stringent action against guilty advocates. The journalists, sporting black ribbons, went in procession from the Press Club to the Mahatma Gandhi statue and staged dharna there.

Meanwhile, responding to a petition by the AAB, 44th additional and sessions Judge B Y Shinde restrained the media from addressing advocates as “goondas” and “terrorists.” The AAB had moved the court seeking an order restraining the media from using vituperative language against the lawyers.

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Monday offered to mediate between media and lawyers.”It is unfortunate that such an event happened,” Ravi Shankar said in a statement.In another development, the four advocates—AAB general secretary A P Ranganath, Mahesh, Aravind Naik and Santosh— who were arrested on Saturday, were granted interim bail and released. The advocates had been lodged in the Parappana Agrahara Central Prisons. The advocates have been directed to file objections to the main petition by March 16.

The police had opposed the bail stating that the release of the advocates might hamper investigations. The police are likely to make more arrests.

Sixty-one cases have been filed against advocates, media and police in connection with the incident. Twenty advocates whose names figure in the FIR are still at large. Efforts are on to arrest them, said the Halasuru Gate police.

During the day, Law Minister Suresh Kumar and Home Minister R Ashoka met Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and discussed the clashes between the media and advocates outside the city civil court complex on Friday.