CHENNAI: Three more lawyers, one of whom attempted to smuggle ganja into the Puzhal Central Prison, have been suspended by the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTN&P) on February 22. With this, the total number of lawyer suspensions over various charges has risen to 47.
According to D Selvam, chairman of BCTN&P, S Sunil Kumar of Avadi was caught red-handed while attempting to smuggle 125 grams of ganja concealed in his shoes, by the prison authorities on January 30. He confessed that the narcotic item was to be handed over to Sethupathi Thangiah, an inmate of the prison. He was produced before the Judicial Magistrate in Tiruvotriyur, who remanded him in judicial custody. The general council of the BCTN&P on February 6 resolved to suspend the advocate.
The other advocate R Muthukrishnan was suspended for his remarks against the first bench led by Chief Justice SK Kaul in a matter relating to introduction of helmet rule. He had filed a revision petition challenging the order passed on June 8, 2015, in which he alleged that the order was a reflection of ‘anger’ and it was ‘irksome’. He has also alleged that the order delivered by the CJ was a ‘judicial overreach’, demonstrating an ‘unwarranted judicial activism’ and it was nothing but a ‘katta panchayat’. After imposing a cost of `10,000 on the advocate, the CJ had referred the matter to the TN Bar Council. And the Bar Council by its recent order temporarily suspended him from practising.
V Antony Jyothi Sheeran of Tiruvallangudi in Tiruvallur district was suspended for his alleged unruly behaviour with the women CISF personnel on November 20 last year. According to a complaint from SI Rati Verma, the advocates have outraged the modesty of women. The charge against Sheeran was that he, along with eight other advocates created a ruckus when a woman CISF personnel frisked a woman lawyer and another personnel in plainclothes, and videographed the incident.