The boycott...

Monday, March 16, 2009
WHY BOYCOTT COURTS?
Independence of judiciary as guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution of India, means non-interference by the State .

Judges and lawyers cannot function without FEAR if the Government can interfere with course of justice and police enter Courts at will.

The course of litigation against 19th February incidents show that the T.N government is deliberately preventing courts from passing orders.

Lawyers have a Constitutional duty NOT TO participate in Courts until the State Government stops shielding the police officers responsible for the grave Constitutional violation and takes responsibility for the brutal events of 19th February 2009.

The lawyers’ boycott of courts IS AGAINST THE T.N. GOVERNMENT AND NOT AGAINST THE JUDICIARY.

Even the British government denounced Jallianwala as monstrous and recalled General Dyer from the post.

Remember – the First Indian Civil Disobedience Movement started in 1920 after the Jallianwala Bagh incident of 1919 AND Rabindra Nath Tagore returned his Knighthood in protest.
Lawyers in Tamil Nadu will suspend their practice if called upon!

JAI HIND
JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE OF T.N LAWYERS
Posted by Mr.T Mohan

False expectations belied
If Mr. Karunanidhi thought that the ire of the lawyers against the system would translate into a confrontation between the lawyers and the judiciary in Tamil Nadu and that the fact that cases were going to be taken up in Courts would force a section of lawyers to return to court driving a wedge between the united front of lawyers, he must have been disappointed. More than 1000 lawyers wrote to the Registry of the High Court today, informing the Registry that their clients have been informed of their inability to appear in courts on account of the the surcharged atmosphere and the lack of safety to lawyers and judges following the brutal attack on courts by the police on the 19th of February 2009. Lawyers turned up in overwhelming numbers in the High Court campus, not to attend to court, but to provide free legal aid and assistance and enable litigants to appear in courts directly and argue their matters. This must have come like a slap in the face for those who wished to reap reward by fomenting fissure and divide among the lawyers, because all their efforts have only helped to further cement lawyers unity
Posted by Mr.T Mohan


Hundreds of lawyers decide to boycott the Hindu
Hundreds of lawyers ( 400 + by the afternoon of the 16th of March 2009) resolved to boycott sections of media which have continued to spread misinformation and mischievous half truths about the events that took place on
the 19th of February 2009 and the lawyers' struggle for justice thereafter. Taking exception to the shameful manner in which a section of the media has pandered to the state cause and highlighted only partisan views, hundreds of lawyers have resolved to begin their boycott of the sections of the media which has been spiteful and malevolent, beginning with suspending their subscription and support to The Hindu. As and when courts recommence, lawyers resolved to ensure that publication is not effected in many matter, whether civil or company jurisdiction in any issue of The Hindu or the Business Line.
Posted by Mr.T Mohan


Legal Aid Camps inaugurated
Lending a lie to the claim that it is the lawyers who have prevented justice from reaching the litigant public, lawyers commenced legal aid camps pursuant to a decision taken at the Joint Action Committee of all bar associations in the state. Today, several senior advocates like Mr. T.V. Ramanujun, Mr. N.G.R. Prasad and other advocates tendered advice to a number of litigants who came to the High Court campus and received the benefit of the advice.

Notices were drafted, memos settled, and in some cases litigants referred to the legal aid clinics in other districts so that their issues are better addressed.


It is clear that it is not lawyers who prevented courts from functioning. It is police brutality that caused closure of a High Court for 5 days and the subordinate courts in Chennai for more than 10 days, unprecedented in the annals of Indian legal history. The lawyers strike is not intended to be a confrontation with the judiciary, it is to highlight the fact that there is a constitutional crisis in Tamil Nadu.
Posted by Mr.T Mohan