Advocates’ attempt to disrupt proceedings not professional conduct: HC

Madurai: Any collective attempt by advocates or office-bearers of a Bar Association to overbear a presiding officer, to insist upon a particular judicial order, or to interrupt the course of a hearing in a manner unbecoming of officers of the court, cannot be treated as protected professional conduct, Madras high court has observed. The court said this while dismissing a batch of petitions by a group of advocates seeking to quash the proceedings initiated against them by the judicial magistrate V court in Madurai for disrupting court proceedings.According to judicial magistrate D Lakshmi Priya, on Jan 19, an advocate presented a petition through the magistrate clerk, alleging wrongful detention of a person by the SS Colony police. Upon examining the same, the magistrate directed that the matter be listed as the first case on Jan 20. Since neither the petitioner nor the counsel was present, the matter was passed over on Jan 20. Thereafter, at about 10.35am, police produced a remand requisition, in which the very same person referred to in the earlier petition.Several advocates, including the Bar president, secretary, treasurer and other members, collectively intervened, insisting that the court should not proceed with the remand. Since the court proceedings were collectively disrupted, the magistrate stated that she was constrained to rise from the dais and retire to chambers. Thereafter, the magistrate initiated proceedings against the advocates. Challenging the same, the advocates filed the petitions.Justice L Victoria Gowri observed that the court is witness to a young judicial officer who, unmindful of the age, stature or experience of the members of the Bar, chose not the path of convenience, but that of conviction. Faced with a charged atmosphere and competing pressures, she did not yield to expediency, nor retreat into silence, but acted with resolute determination to uphold the dignity and authority of the institution she represents. What may be perceived by some as stubbornness, the court views as principled firmness, an essential attribute in the discharge of judicial duty."An advocate is not a mere agent of the litigant. He is an officer of the court. The court, in turn, is not an adversary of the Bar. The dignity of one sustains the honour of the other. If the Bar fails in restraint, the institution suffers; if the Bench fails in fairness, the institution suffers equally. The law, therefore, expects both to remain within their constitutional and professional discipline," the judge observed.Justice Victoria Gowri appreciated Lakshmi Priya for her fearlessness, integrity and unwavering commitment to judicial duty. Officers of her calibre are indeed the invaluable assets of the judiciary, worthy inheritors of the noble legacy of justice, reminiscent of the timeless ideals embodied in the land of Manu Neethi Cholan. Dismissing the petitions by the advocates, the judge observed that the court finds no justification to quash the proceedings. The judge directed the magistrate to proceed strictly in accordance with the statutory framework, and the advocates/petitioners should be at liberty to place all their factual and legal objections before the magistrate.