CHENNAI: Holding that advocates should not step into the shoes of their clients, a division Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed two habeas corpus writ petitions seeking to trace two AIADMK MLAs and order their release.
Representing Elavarasan, a voter in Kunnam constituency and Preetha of Indira Nagar, who alleged their MLAs -- Ramachandran (Kunnam) and Geetha (Krishnarayapuram) -- went ‘missing’ and that they were illegally detained at the Koovathur resort, the two advocates had suggested to the court to constitute a commission or appoint an amicus curiae to look into the allegation.
Rejecting the plea and dismissing the petitions, the Bench of Justices M Jayachandran and T Mathivanan, after studying the counter-affidavit filed by the Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), South, Greater Chennai and the submissions made on State’s behalf by the public prosecutor and considering the relevant facts, found that the ‘maintainability’ was hanging over the petitions and that they did not find any merit.
It also found that the advocates had stepped into the shoes of the litigants, which should not be allowed. If such acts were permitted, then there might not be any client-advocate relationship but the only client and the defacto-client relationship would emerge, adversely affecting the dignity and decorum of the noble profession.
The etiquette prescribed by the Bar Council of India, that an advocate should not act or plead in any manner in which he himself is peculiarly interested, should be borne in mind.
“We are of the considered view that the petitions are devoid of any merit and therefore deserve to be dismissed,” the Bench said and dismissed them.