BENGALURU: More than 1,000 advocates staged a protest outside the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, condemning the murders of fellow lawyers and demanding adequate security and stronger legal protection for practising advocates. Hundreds of them attempted to march towards Vidhana Soudha but were stopped by police near West Gate. The protesters displayed placards and threw pamphlets outside Vidhana Soudha. Traffic movement along the stretch was disrupted.
The protest comes in the wake of the murders of two advocates, Manjunath in Whitefield and Sriram in Annapoorneshwari Nagar and the alleged attempt to murder advocate Venkataramana Sannakki in Gauribidanur. The protest was called by the Karnataka State Bar Council and the Bengaluru Bar Association (BBA).
Advocates from various courts, including the High Court, participated in the protest and demanding arrest of the accused and legal action against them. The association sought the inclusion of stringent, non-bailable provisions and a minimum punishment of 10 years under the Act.
BBA president Vivek Subba Reddy said that police stations were interfering in the administration of criminal justice. He accused the police of functioning like alternative courts, comparing them to police tribunals in Africa, and turning police stations into centres for settling civil disputes. Meanwhile, office-bearers of the BBA submitted a memorandum to Home Minister Priyank Kharge, urging the government to strengthen the Advocates Protection Act.