The strong arm of the lawyer

They have refused to relent even after an inquiry ordered by the into the violence of March 2 — first between the advocates and the media and then between the police and the advocates — and an internal police inquiry by a director general. Reconciliation meetings between advocates and the media chaired by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda have not yielded results either.

On Wednesday,the principal judge at the city court sent a request to the home secretary for a scale-down of the large police contingent on the court premises. The judiciary is looking at this as a step towards convincing the advocates to return to work.

To justify the need to continue striking,the Advocates Association of Bangalore has put up large posters at civil and sessions courts entrances,showing images of the alleged police brutality captured by lawyers on their mobile phones.

Some advocates have also uploaded their videos on sites like YouTube to counter the mainstream media’s “blackout” of these events. Advocates have filed a public interest petition in the High Court against media houses for the alleged one-sided coverage,where the lawyers’ attack on the media was highlighted but not the police retaliation on lawyers.

“As a lawyer I can be prejudiced in my cases because I am paid for it,” said B R Ravishankar,a young lawyer in the High Court,“but the media must be unbiased in its reporting. The media failed to be dispassionate when it became an interested party in the violence in the city court. The media has been shameless in this.”

Advocates have also filed a case against the police top brass,including DGP Shankar Bidari and commissioner of police (Bangalore) Jyothiprakash Mirji,for the alleged attack on them.

Lawyers in general,especially in the lower courts,are usually treated with wariness by the media and the police. They have been known to sometimes take the law into their hands,beat up people for perceived injustices and hold paralysing strikes. What is believed to have changed in the police,so far restrained,is the arrival of the new director general. Bidari,a veteran of the Veerappan operations,believes in an assertive police force to maintain law and order.

The clash(es)

On March 2,the violence initially was between advocates and the media. The advocates were upset because the media had criticised a snap strike on January 17 in protest against the police beating of three advocates over a traffic violation. Peeved advocates had decided to teach the media a lesson by preventing access to the lower courts.

Former BJP minister G Janardhana Reddy was being produced in the court by the CBI in connection with a mining case. A skirmish that started with the TV media trying to enter the court premises turned into a full-fledged clash with the outnumbered journalists being chased and beaten up by advocates,their equipment damaged.

The clash that lasted about an hour ended with the media largely dispersing at the request of police officials. It is after the media left that the police are alleged to have carried out an attack on the advocates.

“Around evening there were unverified media reports that a police constable had died in the violence and the police went on the rampage. They were not sparing anyone who was coming out of the courts. Lawyers were chased and beaten up,” said a court employee.

The media,caught up in protesting the attack on its own members,did not see or report the police action against the lawyers. The next day the lawyers began their strike,refusing to attend court until the police chiefs are removed and the media narrates the lawyers’ version of the story.

The protest drew criticism from Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen who asked lawyers who tried to enforce their boycott in High Court last week to use their brains rather than agitate.

“The advocates’ profession is a noble one. Let us keep it noble. I have asked my colleagues to be accommodating on the assurance that you would resume attending courts. We are bound by the apex court’s directive,’’ the Chief Justice said last week.

He also criticised the president of the Advocates Association of Bangalore,K N Subba Reddy,for not being able to dissuade younger lawyers. “You are the president of one of the biggest bar associations in the country. Who is blackmailing you? We feel saner voices from the lawyers’ community are not being heard. As leaders,you have to guide these young lawyers,” Justice Vikramajit Sen said.

On edge

On Monday,when the 10-day police custody of G Janardhana Reddy ended,the special CBI court was moved out to the Central Prison premises to prevent another lawyers-media confrontation. Around 200 metres from the court premises,platoons of reserve police personnel waited in their trucks. A Rapid Action Force was called in to back up the city police personnel in the event of fresh trouble.

“The police chief is now addressing us as friends and brothers. This is because he fears his own arrest in the cases we have filed against them. We have to continue to fight for justice,” an advocate said at the civil court protest site,addressing his colleagues.

Many litigants have been arguing their own cases under the tutelage of their lawyers. For litigants going unrepresented,the courts have been lenient in setting dates.