Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Lawyers’ boycott hits functioning of courts

Thiruvananthapuram: The functioning of the district and magistrate courts was affected for the third consecutive day on Thursday with lawyers boycotting work in protest against the police presence on the court premises.

C.K. Sitaram, bar association president, said the boycott would continue indefinitely till the district judge ordered the withdrawal of the police from the court precincts. (The police were deployed to enforce the district judge’s order banning demonstrations and sloganeering on the court grounds).

The boycott has affected trial in hundreds of cases, both civil and criminal. It has caused much suffering to thousands of litigants, including remand prisoners, looking for immediate legal relief from the magistrate and district courts.

In a bid to defuse the situation, district judge K. Ramakrishnan met Mr. Sitaram in his chamber. Mr. Ramakrishnan sought an assurance from Mr. Sitaram that lawyers would stop demonstrations and sloganeering on the court precincts. Mr. Sitaram said he would give a definite reply after the bar association general body meeting on Monday.

The lawyers’ agitation has also stretched the city police resources thin. More than 200 policemen, including all senior officials in the city, are deployed in the court (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) to enforce the district judge’s order. Investigation of cases and disposal of petitions have suffered because of the agitation, according to the police.

More than 3,000 lawyers and 1,000 court clerks have been on a relay fast in front of the court for the past 119 days to press their demand for a permanent Bench of the High Court in the capital. The police today arrested 26 lawyers on the charge of defying the district judge’s order.

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