Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Advocates stage dharna, take out rally

By Our Staff Reporter

Members of the Madras High Court Advocates Association burning a copy of the Justice Malimath Committee report at a dharna on the court premises in Chennai on Tuesday. - Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI DEC. 9. As part of a State-wide protest, advocates staged a dharna and took out a rally in the Madras High Court today, in response to a call by the Bar Council of India to protest the Justice V.S. Malimath Committee recommendations on criminal justice system reforms.

Among those who participated in the demonstration were the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu Chairman, Dhanapalraj; the Madras High Court Advocates Association president, S. Prabakaran; the Madras Bar Association president R. Gandhi; J. Rajendra Prasad of the Law Association and K. Santhakumari of the Women Lawyers Association.

Participants also burnt a copy of the committee's report. Later in the evening, a delegation of lawyers met the Governor, P.S. Ramamohan Rao, and submitted a memorandum calling for rejection of the recommendations. One of the suggestions shifting the burden of proof of innocence on the accused would go against the pith and substance of the Constitution, the memorandum said, adding that an amendment to make the confession recorded by a Superintendent of Police or an officer above him as an admissible evidence would ``totally curtail the rights of the accused.''

Another amendment providing for the interception of wire, electrical and oral communication would lead to abuse and misuse of powers by the police and would also affect the privacy of individuals, it said. It also took exception to the new clause that a previous conviction would be relevant as evidence of bad character of an accused. ``It makes the job of a police officer easy to charge a particular person for different offences to enhance his record and satisfy the statistical requirement.''

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Airport arrests expose 'nexus'
• Jayalalithaa regime assailed for `repression'
• Advocates stage dharna, take out rally
• Chief Secretary apologises in apex court
• `Withdraw move to amend Criminal Procedure Code'
• Reconsider decision on autonomy norms, says Ramadoss
• Government orders probe into `irregularities' by Kalanidhi
• Jayalalithaa to write to Vasundhara Raje
• TNCC distributes food, clothes to the poor
• High Court orders notice on `Pulliraja' advertisements
• `Why privatise profit-making bus corporations?'
• DMK fears preventive arrests, moves court
• `Efficient use of existing sources, a solution'

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu