Kerala Bar Council sets up commission to probe woman magistrate’s incident

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 25

The Kerala Bar Council on Saturday constituted a commission to probe into the unruly incident which took place at a magistrate court in Kottayam when angry lawyers staged protest and shouted slogans against a woman magistrate.

The Commission has been asked to file a detailed probe and submit it within a week’s time.

On Thursday, lawyers shouted provocative slogans against Chief Judicial Magistrate Viveeja Sethumohan after an FIR was filed against a lawyer.

The Bar Council had decided to take up the issue after the Kerala High Court on Friday expressed its displeasure over what happened at the court in Kottayam.

Justice Devan Ramachandran questioned why the bar was selectively interfering in such "unnecessary matters".

"What is the bar doing? For all the unnecessary things, the bar is interfering. Yesterday, I saw the issue in Kottayam. Why is the bar being selective? Where are we going? (there is) no meaning," he said.

Acknowledging that he was uncertain about the particulars of the incident in Kottayam, Justice Ramachandran expressed concern and said such incidents affect the public perception about the legal community.

"We will be here for only sometime now and the next generation will take our place. I was disturbed due to the Kottayam incident. What will citizens think about the legal fraternity when they see such incidents,” he said.