The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Lawyers urged to defend Manohar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 10, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Lawyers urged to defend Manohar

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA, JULY 9. Renowned civil liberties activist and senior advocate in the State High Court, K. G. Kannabiran, has appealed to the members of the Bezawada Bar Association to rescind their decision not to take up the defence on behalf of Y. Manohar, the accused in the murder of the MCA student, Sri Lakshmi.

Mr. Kannabiran in his letter to the BBA president, G. Sitarama, appealed: "I would earnestly request you to reconsider and rescind the resolution banning lawyers from appearing for Manohar, who stands accused for the murder of an unfortunate young girl. It is a dastardly murder,'' he said, adding that the reaction of the Bar was equally unfortunate.

"The decision not to defend him is based on our understanding of the profession. But, the profession believes in success and the adversarial system gets the better of us and the fight within courts has become bereft of rules and justice. We are today afraid of the monstrous professional system and the members' diabolic skills, which may let loose Manohar on the society by a quixotic verdictwhich might give him a clean chit. Such resolutions express the rage of the profession at the distortions brought forth by successful practitioners over a century," he said.

Mr. Kannabiran recalled the Prasanna Lakshmi murder case (Guntur, 1999) and the legal process, which finally culminated in a life imprisonment to the killer, Sk. Subhani.

"Manohar should have a fair trial with lawyers defending him and he has a right to be tried according to evidence. The Bar resolution stifles that right. Our right to practise this profession is part of our fundamental rights. The accused has a right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Article 22 (1) gives the right to a suspect to have a lawyer present at the time of arrest and interrogation and for his defence. The lawyers' right to practise the profession is directly concerned with the fundamental rights of the accused citizen," he added.

The APCLC's district secretary, P. Srinivas, also appealed to the Mandal Legal Services Authority to provide a lawyer to Manohar for seeking legal assistance.

BBA defends decision

However, the BBA's president, G. S. Ramam, told The Hindu that the Bar wanted to send a message across to the students that it was extending moral support to them and added that lawyers too had social consciousness. "Morality and Constitutional rights are two different things. We are least bothered about Mr. Kannabiran's appeal. If need be, we will even boycott Mr. Kannabiran," said Mr. Ramam.

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