TN bar bodies support P Wilson after Madras High Court judge berates him in open court

Several Bar bodies from across Tamil Nadu have written to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Madras High Court Chief Justice K Sriram to protest recent comments made by Justice R Subramanian of the Madras High Court against Senior Advocate P Wilson during a hearing.

The Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA), the Federation of Bar Associations of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and other associations have demanded, among other things, the formation of a committee to ensure that judges do not “belittle” advocates and that they talk to them in a “dignified” manner.

“Lawyers and judges are equal stakeholders in the administration of justice...few judges have a misconception that lawyers are their subordinates, and this leads them to shout, abuse, and belittle lawyers and don’t treat us with decorum or decency,” the Federation’s letter to CJI Chandrachud reads.

The representations follow an incident that took place at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court last week.

On October 1, a video clip from the hybrid hearing conducted before the Bench of Justices Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri was circulated on WhatsApp, where the former was seen losing his cool and reprimanding Wilson.

The video showed Justice Subramanian shouting and accusing Wilson of playing “tricks” to seek recusal of judges, and then refusing to give him a hearing despite Wilson apologising several times.

“You guys think you can do anything. Try your tricks elsewhere. Not before me. I am very sorry,” Justice Subramanian said.

Wilson said that the matter pertained to quotas for ex-servicemen and that he had not sought the judges’ recusal at all. He said that he had merely pointed out that Justice Gowri had previously been seized of a similar matter, and had also passed an interim order with a positive direction.

In the video of the court hearing, Wilson can be heard saying,

“Kindly pardon me my Lord. I am ready to argue.”

Justice Subramanian replied, 

“You need not seek our pardon sir, you are bigger than us. We are not hearing you…We will not touch this case. You have achieved your object.”

The judge then went on to lament the conduct of the Senior Advocate as well as the engaging counsel in the matter.

Wilson refused to comment on his interaction with the judge and the subsequent representations made by members of the Bar.

The bar associations have said in their respective representations that the Madras High Court must review the incident and also direct the Registry to probe how a recording of court proceedings was circulated online.

“While robust exchanges are expected in the courtroom, the manner in which Wilson was addressed by Justice R Subramanian went beyond the bounds of respectful legal argument. We respectfully request that this matter be reviewed, and any necessary steps be taken to rectify this situation and prevent such occurrences in the future,” MHAA’s representation to CJ Sriram reads.

Representations made to the CJI by the Federation and the bar associations of Thoothukudi, Chengalpattu, Vaniyambadi, Karur, Ambattur, and several others have also demanded that lawyers be treated with dignity and that steps be taken to ensure such incidents do not take place in future.