In a dramatic incident, nearly 200 lawyers locked the front door of the Judicial Magistrate Court-I court here on Saturday to protest the detention of an advocate who had allegedly produced fake documents to get bail for a client in 2012.
The lawyers were demanding action against the police inspector who detained advocate Somasundaram, who practised in Thoothukudi, from his house on Friday night even as the latter was in his night clothes. The lawyers raised slogans against the magistrate Kathiravan for recommending action against Somasundaram.
Somasundaram allegedly produced a false certificate to obtain bail for a client involved in an accident case in 2012. After Kathiravan recently found the certificate to be fake, he recommended to the SP to initiate action against Somasundram.
Senguttavan, secretary, Thoothukudi Bar Council, warned that unless the SP conducted an inquiry and initiated action against the inspector concerned, they would file a case against the Police Department.
Senguttavan added that there was no need for magistrate to recommended action against the lawyer as he could have rejected the bail petition if he had found the certificate to be fake.
Magistrate Kathiravan was not in the court at the time of the incident. However, the protest affected court proceedings for nearly an hour.
Later, the court room was opened based on a request from Kathiravan, who urged the lawyers to come for talks instead of protests. Somasundaram was in detention.