Karnataka High Court issues notice in PIL against boycotts by lawyers Court room witness to standoff between the Bar and the Bench

While issuing notice to district and taluk-level Bar Associations in a public interest litigation seeking the initiation of legal action against advocates who boycott courts, the Karnataka High Court was witness to a confrontation between the Bench and KN Subba Reddy, president of the Advocate’s Association, Bangalore (AAB)..While issuing notice to district and taluk-level Bar Associations in a public interest litigation seeking the initiation of legal action against advocates who boycott courts, the Karnataka High Court was witness to a confrontation between the Bench and KN Subba Reddy, president of the Advocate’s Association, Bangalore (AAB)..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice K. Sreedhar Rao and Justice Abdul Nazeer was hearing a petition filed by activist Vishwanath Swami, which claimed that advocates who boycotted court proceedings were acting against the directives of the Supreme Court. Swami had approached the High Court after the clash between the media and lawyers in the city civil court complex in Bangalore..The March 2, 2012 incident was followed by a 19-day long boycotting of courts by lawyers in Bangalore. It was this boycott, amongst other things, which led Swami to file the petition..Yesterday, when the matter was listed for final hearing, the Court directed that notice ought to be issued to the District and Taluk-level Bar Associations’ as well. Meanwhile, KN Subba Reddy and AAB General Secretary, AP Ranganath entered the court room and stated that the AAB had not been “properly served”. Swami told Bar & Bench that he had not only personally spoken to Reddy on this matter but also had sent the petition via registered post and had proof the same..As per a report in The Hindu, Reddy told the Bench that, “You can declare the boycott as illegal….what [can] you do in such instances…” to which the Bench replied that its decision would be indicated in the order passed by the Bench. After Reddy sought some more time, the Bench adjourned the matter by a week and posted it for further hearing on February 4, 2013..The Petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate, SS Naganand while Senior Advocate MR Nayak was amicus in the matter..This is not the first time that the AAB has come under the spotlight for confronting the judiciary. In June, 2012 the AAB had called its members to boycott the Chief Justice’s Court in protest against the alleged “failure” to take steps to prevent the attack on lawyers by the police in the city civil complex.