The Committee appointed by the Madras High Court to inquire into the parallel justice delivery system (kangaroo court) being run by “unruly” advocates on the Egmore Court campus in its report suggested that creation of a combined court complex alone can resolve the issue.
The city can be divided into four judicial districts – north-east, central, south-east and south-west. In each judicial district, there must be a complex with civil, criminal, family, labour and rent control courts.
“If all these facilities are created, it will be easy for the litigant public to have access to the courts which would be near their locality,” the Committee headed by former judge of the High Court Justice K. Chandru said in the report.
As to the immediate steps needed to be taken to deal with the menace of ‘kangaroo’ courts, the committee suggested that the State Bar Council may be directed to expedite verification of the credentials of lawyers practising at Egmore courts.
“To control the court proceedings and to contain the unruly elements in the Bar, the Presiding Officer of the court must be vested with certain powers and this could be done only by bringing in appropriate rules. The Bar Council should take suo motu action even on the basis of press reports relating to hooliganism indulged by a section of the Bar,” the report said.
The committee wanted the High Court to monitor lawyer Stalin’s murder case probe. On January 30, the lawyer was killed in a clash between the supporters of rival candidates in the elections to the Egmore Bar association. “This will send out a warning signal to those who may indulge in such criminal activities in future,” the report said.
The report suggested regulating entry into the court complex by armed police, installation of CCTV cameras and transfer of the police officials presently guarding the court to break the nexus between police and advocates.
In October, 2105 the First Bench of the High Court-appointed the Committee while hearing a petition moved by A. Nagoor Gani, Roshan Sulai K.A. Banu and A. Alima Beevi after they were allegedly assaulted by a group of lawyers in 2011 on the Egmore campus.
