In an unprecedented incident, agitating advocates on Monday disrupted proceedings in the court hall of the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, P.D. Dinakaran, shouted slogans against him and forced him to adjourn the court for some time.
Around 200 advocates also gheraoed Justices V. Gopala Gowda and B.V. Nagaratna when the latter did not heed their demand not to conduct proceedings. The agitators locked the doors of the court hall where the judges were sitting and even cut off power supply. The two judges were able to leave Court Hall No. 2 only after Mr. Justice Dinakaran and several other judges came and escorted them through the jostling crowd.
The advocates had turned up in force to ensure that the boycott of all court proceedings in the State, called by the Advocates Association of Bangalore (AAB), was heeded.
Tension began building up in the High Court around 11 a.m. when the advocates found that proceedings were going on. They began shouting slogans against Mr. Justice Dinakaran and asked advocates to abstain from the court.
The advocates barged into the court hall and shouted slogans against the Chief Justice. They abused advocates present in the court, assaulted some, and physically removed them from the court.
Mr. Justice Dinakaran urged the crowd to let him speak. He said he had no occasion to speak of the “pain and suffering” he had undergone in the recent days. “I have given my explanation. My silence should not be construed as admission of guilt. As a judge, I have to function and discharge my constitutional obligation and that is what I am doing.”
