Speaking to The News Minute, Sangeetha Lakshmana -practising senior advocate at the Kerala High Court- has come down heavily on the hooliganism indulged in by the members of the bar in the state over molestation charges against one of their colleagues.
State government pleader Danish Mathew Manjooran was arrested on charges of attempt to molest a woman as she was returning home from work on July 14. This led to subsequent trading of charges by the police and the Kerala High Courts Advocate Association and later transformed into a media-lawyer tussle.
In the profession for the past 18 years, Sangeetha just cannot understand what the fuss is all about, as it is a clear case of molestation and there is nothing to be done other than let the law have its course.
“In my viewpoint, it is a clear case of attempt to molest that has been filed against the accused. If Manjooran feels that this is a fabricated charge that has been foisted on him by the police in order to get back at him, he does have recourse to seek legal address for the same. This is not at all a matter for the state Bar Association to intervene. They simply have no role to play here,” she says.
“There is a certain decorum and dignity associated with the legal profession and it is indeed a matter of grave concern to see lawyers indulge in behaviour so unbecoming of them. This is not what the public expects of them,” she adds.
Sangeetha opines that the law is very clear on how charges of molestation should be addressed and there is absolutely no scope for ambiguity here. “I just don’t understand why it has snowballed into such a grave matter. Let the law have its way and justice be served to whosoever is proved guilty,” she reiterates.
Earlier, responding to claims by Dhanesh that the police action against him was based on vengeance, Kochi City Police Commissioner MP Dinesh IPS had on Monday issued a press release rebutting such reported falsehood.
The release stated that colleagues and relatives of the accused had met the complainant and told her that his wife had attempted to commit suicide after the news appeared in the media, and that his child was terminally ill.
They had apparently compelled the complainant to say that it was a case of mistaken identity, when the accused would be produced in the court. An affidavit was later prepared in English and the victim was made to sign it, after giving her the impression that the affidavit was a document to be produced before the court.
There are reports that the complainant has now however secretly deposed before a female magistrate about how she was coerced and tricked into signing the said affidavit.