The Advocates Association of Bangalore on Friday justified the lawyers' protest in the Karnataka high court saying that they were provoked into aggressive action by the judges. In a lucid case of bar versus the bench, the advocates have countered all charges of mugging Chief Justice P D Dinakaran.
"If there is an allegation that the chief justice has been attacked by a weapon, I say it is not true. It is totally false. You cannot take advantage of a small injury sustained while opening a door and put the blame on the advocates. We are not totally at fault. There maybe contributory factors from our youngsters. But the entire provocation has come from the other side. Therefore, it is not proper to totally blame the lawyers for what has happened," said B V Acharya, a member of Advocates Association of Bangalore.
The advocates also refused to accept the charge of locking up the judges who had been imposed on them. They alleged that the judges had locked themselves up for their own security.
"According to my information they have not been locked up. It is the judges who directed the locking up to avoid lawyers getting in and creating trouble. So it is for their safety that the registrar general got the doors locked," said Acharya.
On Monday, the advocates had demanded the removal of Chief Justice Dinakaran.
Justice Dinakaran's name had figured in the allegations of corruption and in a land encroachment case.
Earlier, Justice Dinakaran has reportedly expressed an unwillingness to sit on the bench following a resolution passed by the Advocates Association of Bangalore asking him to refrain from attending or presiding over judicial proceedings until he is cleared of the allegations levelled against him.
The chief justice of India had sought a report from Tamil Nadu government on the allegations.
The report submitted by the district collector of Thiruvallur, Palani Kumar, confirmed that Dinakaran had encroached on 197 acres of public land illegally.
Justice Dinakaran was to be elevated to the Supreme Court by the chief justice of India, but his name was withheld on the basis of the alleged charges of corruption and land encroachment.
The apex court has decided to consider the appointment only after Justice Dinakaran is cleared of the said charges.
