Lawyers not entirely at fault, say ex-AGs

 
This view was conveyed by former Advocate Generals R N Narasimha Murthy and B V Acharya at a meeting convened on the suggestion made by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar on Wednesday.  The two stated that the lawyers were provoked by the decision to constitute a special bench to hear the petition aimed at stopping the lawyers from boycotting the work on November 9. The counsels asked where was the need to constitute the special bench on Saturday to hear this particular case, when there were several emergency cases which had not been heard. Furthermore, the 2003 Supreme Court judgment allowed a boycott in the rarest of rare cases, so issuing a stay after making the pretence of hearing arguments for an entire day was improper, they alleged.

Bar Council President Abdul Riyaz Khan said that it was the judges' behaviour which caused the incident. Despite continuous requests, the Judges continued their sitting and even though the incident was regretted, the Judges have twisted the incident, he claimed.

Narasimha Murthy said that the Court Hall with the Judges inside was locked by the Registrar General himself, who feared the surging crowd of advocates, and Justice Dinakaran sustained the injury on his hand when he arrived and tried to open the door.

He said that the contempt proceedings were not right, but they were ready to go to jail, if it came to that. Later, the group said that a Lokayukta inquiry should be conducted into the incident to ascertain the truth.

The group took exception to the fact that none of the judges after Justice D V Shylendra Kumar had declared assets.

The advocates want the contempt proceedings withdrawn and are still maintaining their demand that the Chief Justice should not sit through Court proceedings, till the charges are cleared.