The Supreme Court on Tuesday deprecated violence indulged in by lawyers during agitations and wondered what disciplinary action the State Bar Councils had initiated against delinquent lawyers.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya, hearing a PIL filed by advocate P.V. Krishnaiah on violent incidents in the Andhra Pradesh High Court in September-October 2010, expressed its anguish over the culture of violence spreading to High Courts such as Allahabad, Madras and Karnataka.
Justice Singhvi cited an instance of a magistrate being thrashed by an advocate in the premises of a court after being denied bail. “In five years from now, this will happen in the Supreme Court. Judges should come to court wearing helmets for their protection.”
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Describing the damage carried out by a section of advocates in the Andhra Pradesh High Court as “sheer goondaism and rowdyism and vandalism,” Justice Singhvi lamented that they had damaged the very institution where they were supposed to earn their livelihood.
Justice Singhvi asked senior counsel R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government, “what action have you taken against the lawyers who indulged in violence, short of beating the judges? Has the State Bar Council taken any action on cancellation of their certificate of practice?”
Mr. Venkataramani said the State government had taken a serious view of the violent incidents in the court premises and was prosecuting the erring advocates.
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