THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ripples of the unruly incidents that happened at Vanchiyoor court are yet to subside. Hours after Vanchiyoor police registered a non-bailable case against Bar Association president K P Jayachandran, secretary Jayakrishnan Pachalloor and 10 lawyers on the basis of the complaint of magistrate Deepa Mohan, a woman lawyer responded in kind by petitioning the police that she was attacked by the magistrate on Thursday noon.
The complaint was filed by Thiruvananthapuram Bar
Association managing committee member R K Rajeswari. As per the complaint, she was attacked by Deepa on the court premises. This was done in retaliation for the magistrate being heckled in her cabin on Wednesday by some lawyers, who were agitated by her action of cancelling the bail bond of a KSRTC driver.
Jayachandran said the woman lawyer sustained injuries in the attack and the police are yet to record Rajeswari’s statement. Meanwhile, the police have registered an FIR against the lawyers on the complaint of the magistrate. The lawyers have been charged with various non-bailable offences, including rioting, unlawful assembly, preventing a public servant from discharging his duty among others. However, no arrests have been made yet.
The FIR registered said the accused used misogynist language against the magistrate while waylaying her inside the chamber. As per the FIR, the accused threatened the magistrate saying, “You are trying to frighten lawyers who have 40 years of experience. You should first learn law. You are a woman. Otherwise, you would have been dragged out of the chamber and beaten up. We will now decide whether anyone can approach this court.”
Women’s panel
State Women’s Commission has taken note of the incident. Chairperson M C Josephine said it was of serious concern that a woman who was part of the judiciary was attacked. The police and judiciary must take strict action against the advocates involved, Josephine said.
Bar raises allegations
The Trivandrum Bar Association alleged that Deepa Mohan assumed the post of magistrate without surrendering her enrolment certificate with the Bar Council. The Bar alleged that Deepa’s name was still enrolled as a lawyer in the Bar Council’s rolls and that’s against the rules. “We will approach the Bar Council seeking action against her for these lapses,” said an
association official.