BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda on Friday announced a judicial probe into the 'shameful and dastardly' attack on mediapersons and police personnel by a section of lawyers in the city civil court complex premises.
"After gathering information from various quarters and discussing the issue with Home Minister R. Ashok,the government has decided to initiate a judicial probe into the shameful and dastardly act of a section of lawyers,"he told reporters here.
Asked if a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge would chair the probe, he said a decision would be taken tomorrow.
The government would not compromise on acting against the guilty lawyers who beat up mediapersons and policemen,he said.
Asked if any arrests had been made, Gowda said the government's first priority was to bring the tense situation under control. "Once that is done the investigation and arrests will follow suit," he added.
The Chief Minister said prohibitory orders on the premises of city civil court would continue tomorrow.
Asked what transpired between government officials and Karnataka Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen on the issue, he said he wouldn't comment much on that in view of onging probe."..We (government) cannot spell out everything about what transpired between us and the Chief Justice before the media..," he said.
Asked if the government discussed the guidelines for mediapersons to cover court proceedings with the Chief Justice to avoid such incidents in future, Gowda said, "We will again sit with the judicial authorities, including Registrar General of Karnataka High Court, to chalk out guidelines.. In a week's time we will come out with the guidelines."
Gowda also said government would bear the medical expenses of the injured and fix compensation after assessing damage to private and public property. He said no loss of life was reported due to the incident.