The Bar has erupted yet again. Two separate incidents of striking similarity have rocked the Bar of three States – Punjab, Haryana and Kerala..While the lawyers in Punjab and Haryana have abstained from work for the past three days, things in Kerala got out of hand yesterday when lawyers allegedly assaulted media persons. The Bar has, however, refuted these claims..Trouble in both places was triggered by arrest of lawyers..Punjab & Haryana .The trouble began when advocate Jatin Salwan was arrested on July 1 in connection with a drug case by Chandigarh police. Two other persons were also arrested along with Salwan including a retired police officer..The arrest followed allegations of planting opium and fake currency in a car of one Bhagwan Singh, who was arrested by the police last month..The arrest of Salwan sparked of protests among lawyers, with a number of District Bar associations and the High Court Bar association calling for a strike. .The past two days, July 18 and July 19, witnessed abstention of work by lawyers. Meanwhile Salwan was granted bail yesterday..However, the High Court Bar Association did not relent..A meeting was convened today in which, according to sources, there were calls for continuing the strike till July 26. However, it was finally decided to call off the strike, and lawyers are expected to get back to work tomorrow..Kerala .The events in Kerala began when Government pleader Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran was arrested for allegedly attempting to molest a woman. The news soon grabbed prime time headlines in Malayalam news channels triggering outrage at the Bar..Initially, the Kerala High Court Advocates Association wrote to the Advocate General of the State condemning the way in which the police has handled the issue. The letter stated that Manjooran was “framed and arrested” by the police and “the way in which the police published the news and framed the lawyer” were against the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court..However, things got out of hand yesterday when lawyers took matters into their own hands and reportedly beat up media persons inside the High Court premises. However, there are two versions of the same emerging from Kerala..According to Times of India, the media was at the receiving end of unruly lawyers who hurled expletives and beat up reporters. The ToI report states the following:.“A reporter of Deccan Chronicle who was reporting court proceedings on a petition filed by the government pleader, Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran, was asked his name by a lawyer and taken out of the courtroom. A group of lawyers who were waiting outside took him near a staircase, showered expletives on him, and pushed him down the stairs..Office-bearers of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association held talks with reporters at the media room following the incident and apologized for the attack. Reporters expressed their wish to bring the matter to the attention of the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ)..While the complaint to the ACJ was being prepared at the media room, a group of lawyers reached there and began showering verbal abuses on reporters. One of them kicked a senior reporter of Asianet News. The second attack was also described in the complaint filed to the ACJ by reporters. When the ACJ reached his chamber after the afternoon session of the court, reporters met him and submitted the complaint.”.However, the Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) has a different version of the story..According to Live Law, the Bar has claimed that it was the journalists who manhandled the lawyers and not vice versa..The report states that KHCAA has convened a meeting today “to discuss the issue of alleged manhandling of certain lawyers by media persons inside the High Court building.”.When contacted, the KHCAA office said that “nothing is known about the status of the meeting” yet..Update: According to the latest updates coming from Kerala High Court, there has been a further bout of violence between lawyers and media persons..The News Minute reports that lawyers attacked media persons today leading to a lathi charge by the police..“On Wednesday reporters who came to court and were waiting in the media room were met with slogans of “Media Go Back” and were forced to leave the media room. “The lawyers did not even spare three women journalists, two of them seniors who have been covering the court for many years,” said a reporter. With the lawyers assaulting journalists and cameramen, mediapersons started protesting outside the court. As the situation heated up, the police had to resort to lathicharges more than once.”.The report also states that a lawyer was injured yesterday when protest march by journalists turned violent and ended in both sides pelting stones at each other..A lawyer, tweeted from High Court that the KHCAA closed the media room after the clashes..Earlier this year, lawyers had wreaked havoc at the Patiala House court complex in New Delhi. The trigger for the same was the alleged anti-national slogan shouting by students at JNU. JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in connection with the same..He was being brought to Patiala House for the hearing of bail application, when certain lawyers took matters into their own hands and roughed up the accused as well as the media personnel who had come to report the case..Image Courtesy: .Punjab & Haryana High Court .Lawyers of Kerala High Court
The Bar has erupted yet again. Two separate incidents of striking similarity have rocked the Bar of three States – Punjab, Haryana and Kerala..While the lawyers in Punjab and Haryana have abstained from work for the past three days, things in Kerala got out of hand yesterday when lawyers allegedly assaulted media persons. The Bar has, however, refuted these claims..Trouble in both places was triggered by arrest of lawyers..Punjab & Haryana .The trouble began when advocate Jatin Salwan was arrested on July 1 in connection with a drug case by Chandigarh police. Two other persons were also arrested along with Salwan including a retired police officer..The arrest followed allegations of planting opium and fake currency in a car of one Bhagwan Singh, who was arrested by the police last month..The arrest of Salwan sparked of protests among lawyers, with a number of District Bar associations and the High Court Bar association calling for a strike. .The past two days, July 18 and July 19, witnessed abstention of work by lawyers. Meanwhile Salwan was granted bail yesterday..However, the High Court Bar Association did not relent..A meeting was convened today in which, according to sources, there were calls for continuing the strike till July 26. However, it was finally decided to call off the strike, and lawyers are expected to get back to work tomorrow..Kerala .The events in Kerala began when Government pleader Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran was arrested for allegedly attempting to molest a woman. The news soon grabbed prime time headlines in Malayalam news channels triggering outrage at the Bar..Initially, the Kerala High Court Advocates Association wrote to the Advocate General of the State condemning the way in which the police has handled the issue. The letter stated that Manjooran was “framed and arrested” by the police and “the way in which the police published the news and framed the lawyer” were against the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court..However, things got out of hand yesterday when lawyers took matters into their own hands and reportedly beat up media persons inside the High Court premises. However, there are two versions of the same emerging from Kerala..According to Times of India, the media was at the receiving end of unruly lawyers who hurled expletives and beat up reporters. The ToI report states the following:.“A reporter of Deccan Chronicle who was reporting court proceedings on a petition filed by the government pleader, Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran, was asked his name by a lawyer and taken out of the courtroom. A group of lawyers who were waiting outside took him near a staircase, showered expletives on him, and pushed him down the stairs..Office-bearers of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association held talks with reporters at the media room following the incident and apologized for the attack. Reporters expressed their wish to bring the matter to the attention of the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ)..While the complaint to the ACJ was being prepared at the media room, a group of lawyers reached there and began showering verbal abuses on reporters. One of them kicked a senior reporter of Asianet News. The second attack was also described in the complaint filed to the ACJ by reporters. When the ACJ reached his chamber after the afternoon session of the court, reporters met him and submitted the complaint.”.However, the Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) has a different version of the story..According to Live Law, the Bar has claimed that it was the journalists who manhandled the lawyers and not vice versa..The report states that KHCAA has convened a meeting today “to discuss the issue of alleged manhandling of certain lawyers by media persons inside the High Court building.”.When contacted, the KHCAA office said that “nothing is known about the status of the meeting” yet..Update: According to the latest updates coming from Kerala High Court, there has been a further bout of violence between lawyers and media persons..The News Minute reports that lawyers attacked media persons today leading to a lathi charge by the police..“On Wednesday reporters who came to court and were waiting in the media room were met with slogans of “Media Go Back” and were forced to leave the media room. “The lawyers did not even spare three women journalists, two of them seniors who have been covering the court for many years,” said a reporter. With the lawyers assaulting journalists and cameramen, mediapersons started protesting outside the court. As the situation heated up, the police had to resort to lathicharges more than once.”.The report also states that a lawyer was injured yesterday when protest march by journalists turned violent and ended in both sides pelting stones at each other..A lawyer, tweeted from High Court that the KHCAA closed the media room after the clashes..Earlier this year, lawyers had wreaked havoc at the Patiala House court complex in New Delhi. The trigger for the same was the alleged anti-national slogan shouting by students at JNU. JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in connection with the same..He was being brought to Patiala House for the hearing of bail application, when certain lawyers took matters into their own hands and roughed up the accused as well as the media personnel who had come to report the case..Image Courtesy: .Punjab & Haryana High Court .Lawyers of Kerala High Court