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BCI condemns attack on lawyers

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Bar Council of India (BCI) at an emergency meeting on Sunday, condemned the “dastardly” attack by the police on advocates, litigants and staff of the Madras High Court, including a High Court Judge, inside the court premises on February 19. It demanded a judicial enquiry into the incident.

The meeting said, “Such an attack is an attack on the judicial system of the country which must be condemned by one and all. Considering the gravity of the incident, the Council deems it appropriate to make an appeal to the members of the legal fraternity of the country to observe February 27 as a ‘black day/protest day’ in condemnation of such brutal attack by police on the judicial system.”

It said the State Bar Councils, High Court and District Bar Associations would decide the mode and the manner in which the ‘black day/protest day’ was to be observed in a peaceful and democratic manner.

The meeting resolved to send a committee comprising S.N.P. Sinha, Chairman, BCI, and Members, Milan Kumar Dey, S. Gopakumaran Nair, Ashok Parija and M. Jagdeesh to Chennai to take stock of the situation and to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident. The Committee would meet the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Chairman of the State Bar Council and leaders of the bar associations.

It would also meet the Chief Minister and the Home Minister and demand that the police officials who were responsible for the attack be suitably punished. The Committee would also endeavour to bring about normality in the court premises to make the atmosphere conducive for normal functioning of the courts in the State.

The meeting requested the Chief Justice of the High Court to order a judicial probe by a retired High Court/Supreme Court judge to bring the guilty to book.

The BCI offered a sum of Rs.1 lakh to the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu as a token of solidarity with the members of the legal profession who were injured in the attack, to meet a part of their medical expenses.

Strike to continue

Chennai Special Correspondent writes:

Tamil Nadu lawyers’ associations have resolved to continue their indefinite strike.

In a resolution passed unanimously at an extraordinary general body meeting on Sunday, lawyers of the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) and other associations decided to “abstain indefinitely from all courts, tribunals and forums”.

The MHAA has also demanded the immediate removal of the Director-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police of Chennai. It wants a judicial enquiry headed by a sitting High Court judge to go into the clash between police and lawyers on February 19.

On Sunday evening, MHAA members, led by president R.C. Paul Kanagaraj, lodged a complaint with the Esplanade police urging immediate action against the police involved in the clash.

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