Bangalores legal fraternity continues to simmer Courts boycotted as police arrest four lawyers in the city

The Bangalore police have arrested four lawyers in connection with the violent confrontation involving media personnel, lawyers and the police in the city’s civil court last Friday. The four lawyers include AP Ranganath, General Secretary of the Advocates Association of Bangalore (AAB). Meanwhile, lawyers too have sought action to be taken against erring journalists as well as the police who, they claim, used excessive force..The Bangalore police have arrested four lawyers in connection with the violent confrontation involving media personnel, lawyers and the police in the city’s civil court last Friday. The four lawyers include AP Ranganath, General Secretary of the Advocates Association of Bangalore (AAB). Meanwhile, lawyers too have sought action to be taken against erring journalists as well as the police who, they claim, used excessive force. The local media has called for stringent action against the offending lawyers, terming the “judicial probe” as an eyewash..Meanwhile the AAB has called for a boycott of courts across Karnataka to protest against the “police excesses” against lawyers during the scuffle. AAB President, KN Subba Reddy stated that the blame squarely lies with the police for failing to take appropriate action. Reddy has also claimed that “almost 99 per cent of those shown in the media footages were not lawyers at all. Speaking to Bar & Bench, Reddy said that they plan to fight this out in a “legal manner”. Reddy also revealed plans of holding a hunger strike. The lawyers are also aggrieved by the “one-sided” manner in which the media has portrayed the event. Some lawyers have released photos of the event revealing events which were not covered by the mainstream media. There is even a video which shows police vandalising cars and bikes as well as assaulting lawyers. (See below).Speaking to Bar & Bench, Venkatesh Murthy from Poovayya and Co. recounts the terrible events of March 2, 2012. He said that there was blood everywhere, “in the stair case, the court rooms, in the corridors”. Murthy also said that some lawyers were holed up by the police in the upper floors of the court complex and that it was the police that vandalised the vehicles of lawyers..While the police, media and the lawyers are keen on putting forward their side of the story, it is likely to take a while before the true facts emerge. What is beyond all doubt however, is that this shameful incident raise pointed questions against all the stake holders involved. A peaceful resolution of this dispute shall certainly require something more than judicial probes and court boycotts..Professor Krishan Mahajan of National Law University Orissa, a journalist who covered legal issues for more than three decades before becoming a lawyer, says that this incident highlights the fact that there are “good and bad elements” both in the media as well as the legal fraternity..Mahajan said that the genesis of such ugly events lie in the fact that a large number of Bar Associations have come under the control of lawyers who merely know how to win elections and are not interested in actually working in the legal profession per se. He would know. Mahajan has been one of the most the prolific legal journalists in the country; his monthly column “Legal Perspectives” in the Hindustan Times was path breaking in more ways than one..His disapproval in the manner in which the Banaglore lawyers acted is evident. According to Mahajan, if the lawyers felt that they were being portrayed in a negative light, then they could have taken recourse to a number of other options such as complaints to the Press Council of India (currently headed by retired SC judge Markandey Katju), formal talks with editors or even instituting proceedings before a court of law. A “one-sided portrayal” is certainly no excuse to take law into ones’s own hands. Furthermore, a decision to not represent police or media personnel is something “no professional lawyer” would ever make..At the same time, Mahajan acknowledges the fact that Indian media are not sufficiently trained to cover court proceedings; they tend to report such proceedings in the way one would a “political rally”, Mahajan asserts. “Curts are a different ball game altogether”, he says and this lack of training may result in inconsequential acts spiralling out of control..What is the way forward? Mahajan says that to uncover what really happened, a judicial enquiry or even a magisterial enquiry is neccessary. Such a body will have the power to summon records, allow for examination and cross-examination and is the only legal remedy to discover the truth. Along with this, Mahajan advocates all the concerned parties holding discussions with each other. If some sort of guidelines could be framed (as they have been done in the Supreme Court) it is possible that such violent events can be avoided..The video can be seen here: