Strongly reacting to the allegations made by them against a Public Prosecutor during the trial of a case, the Madras High Court has directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu to initiate disciplinary action against two counsel for a petitioner and further imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on the petitioner.
Dismissing a criminal original petition, Justice P.N. Prakash said, “This court cannot be a silent spectator to such insinuations being unleashed against the Public Prosecutor of the State in pleadings which will remain as a blot forever, as this is a court of record.”
Senior advocate S. Shanmuga Velayutham, appointed as Public Prosecutor for the High Court, “holds a very responsible position in the State apparatus and he definitely does not deserve such an uncharitable remark” by the petitioner’s counsel Manikandan Vathan Chettiar and Mathan Kumar, the judge said.
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While the Advocates Act and Bar Council Rule No. 4 were against “scurrilous attacks in pleadings, and using intemperate language during arguments in court,” the judge said, “This is not merely an isolated incident of such uncharitable allegations being made against S. Shanmuga Velayutham. Manikandan Vathan Chettiar’s office has been consistently making such allegations.”
The petition alleged that the Public Prosecutor deployed a police officer to file a false counter-affidavit in the court, prevented production of case diary before the court, sought repeated adjournments to scuttle the case, deployed criminals to influence counsel for the petitioner, besides refusing to produce the case diary before court as a “a high-handed act, aimed at intimidating judges of Madras High Court.”
Senior advocate S. Shanmuga Velayutham does not deserve uncharitable remarks, says judge