Under threat some lawyers and having witnesses high voltage protests in the past few days over various issues, the Madras HC judiciary has decided to crackdown on the troublesome lawyers and step-up their surveillance in the court campus.
The storming of advocates of the Madurai District Bar Association into the Madras HC last week, the HC has cancelled their licenses to occupy the premises and also ordered that CCTV cameras be installed at the HC. The HC registry has cancelled the license granted to the Madurai District Bar Association to occupy the premises of the Madurai District Court.
Now, the Madurai District Bar Association is an “unauthorized” occupant of the Court premises. They have also been told to hand over the premises to the Principal District Judge of Madurai. Earlier, a notice was issued on July 18 to the Association for passing a resolution to boycott the Madurai District Court for condemning the wearing of helmets. The notice had asked them to respond to why their license should not be cancelled.
According to The Hindu report, P. Kalaiarasan, Registrar General of the Madras High Court said, “The Bar Association premises is given to members of the bar for the benefit of advocates to provide legal assistance to the litigant public. By its conduct of calling for an indefinite boycott of courts, the association has failed to discharge its duty and obligation to its clients.”
Furthermore, The Madras High Court took a precautionary step to install CCTV cameras in the court hall of the Madras High Court. Four cameras have been installed in which two are placed behind the seat of the judges and two covering the visitor’s gallery.
Last week, the court also allowed live recordings of contempt proceedings against Madurai- based advocates.
Amidst all this controversy, there came a surprise from a controversial judge, CS Karnan who wrote a letter to the home secretary on Wednesday to appreciate the security arrangements at the court premises.
In a New Indian Express report, he said, “There is absolutely no lack of service, neither any lapse nor short coming..In my opinion, the Tamil Nadu police establishment who are always alert, should be given the freedom to carry o without criticism or adverse remarks, which may only demoralize the force and could put our own safety in jeopardy,” Justice Karnan wrote in his letter to the home secretary.
Whereas, other judges including Chief Justice, SK Kaul held opposite views in this matter.