In a first of its kind case, the Madras High Court Bench here has permitted parents of 3 individuals, languishing in jail in connection with a theft case, to file and argue their bail petitions, as lawyers in Kanyakumari district generally do not appear for the accused in cases in which the complainants happen to be advocates by profession. Justice R.S. Ramanathan granted the permission while allowing a petition filed by R. Lawrence, R. Antony Vincent and R. Suman. They claimed that the Judicial Magistrate at Eraniel had refused to accept bail petitions filed by their parents on the ground that the accused could be represented only by their lawyers. Disagreeing with the view taken by the Magistrate, the judge said: “The Magistrate must be aware that in Kanyakumari district, whenever a complainant is an advocate, no other advocate appears for the accused persons and even advocates from other districts are not normally permitted to appear on behalf of the accused. “In such circumstances, the Magistrate ought to have taken a practical approach and entertained the application filed by the parents of the petitioners.”
