Advocates to boycott courts in Karnataka today

The Advocates Association of Bangalore on Sunday gave a call for boycott of courts across Karnataka on Monday to protest alleged ''police excesses'' against some of its members at the Civil Court complex here.

An emergency meeting of AAB, convened to discuss the violent incidents and police action on Friday and also media reports against lawyers, blamed police "failure" for the ugly events that unfolded.

AAB President K N Subba Reddy told reporters that had the police initiated timely action, the attacks would not have occurred.

He said the meeting passed a resolution seeking shifting of DGP and IGP Shankar Bidari and Bangalore City Police Commissioner B G Jyoti Prakash Mirji from their posts.
"We have also decided not to take up cases of media houses as they have portrayed lawyers badly", Reddy said.

Reddy said the association suspected the hand of outsiders in the attack on media persons and claimed he had information that some 100 black coats were purchased from the association by some persons.

Police have arrested four advocates in connection with the violence and looking for other suspects.

A senior police officer, refusing to be identified, said the police were questioning several advocates, but no fresh arrests were made.

The four arrested lawyers were remanded to judicial custody till March 16 by the Sixth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Churi Khan late last night.

Advocate BAA General Secretary A P Ranganath, who complained of chest pain, was referred to the Jayadeva Institute of Cadiology for a check up, police said.

The arrests came last night after the media in the state rejected the judicial probe into the attack as an "eyewash" and demanded that the guilty advocates be brought to book immediately.

Sixtyfive persons, including 52 police peronnel, were injured when lawyers went on a rampage protesting presence of mediapersons to cover the appearance of former Minister and mining baron Janardhan Reddy in a mining case in the city civil court complex on Friday.