Lawyers should have made use of legal remedies: Law minister

Hitting out at the lawyers who allegedly threatened a woman magistrate recently, Kerala Law minister A K Balan on Saturday said they should have made use of legal remedies instead of creating a ruckus inside the judicial officer's chamber.

If the advocates had a complaint they should have utilised legal remedies instead of rushing to the magistrate's chamber and creating a row, Balan told a television channel here.

"What is the message they are trying to send by tarnishing the image of the judiciary? ... in this case, on one side it is the magistrate and on the other, the lawyers. So the high court will have to examine the matter, not the government.

 

Let the high court look into the matter and take an appropriate decision and police will move forward with the complaint before it," he said.

Judicial First class magistrate here, Deepa Mohan, had filed a written complaint with the Chief Judicial Magistrate on the "unruly" behaviour of some lawyers and had alleged that she was threatened by them inside her chamber recently for cancelling the bail of an accused.

The CJM had forwarded the complaint to police following which a case was registered against 12 lawyers including the Bar Association President and Secretary.

The Thiruvananthapuram Bar Association has, however, dismissed the allegations, saying the members had gone to meet the magistrate to hold talks following a member's complaint and they had not locked the room or threatened her as was being alleged.

Demanding action against the erring lawyers, the state Judicial Officers Association has approached the Kerala High court, seeking its immediate intervention and to ensure a free and fearless atmosphere for their functioning.

The Thiruvananthapuram Bar Association had boycotted courts on Friday in protest against the complaint against its members.

The Kerala Bar Council is going to meet at Kochi on Sunday and the Advocate General and Bar Council Chairman will meet the Chief Justice to discuss the issue, according to association sources.