KHCAA Rejects Judge's Offer To Apologize In Chamber; Says 'When Insult Happened In Open Court, Apology Also Should Be In Open Court'

The Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) has written a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court demanding an apology in open court for allegedly humiliating the widow of a recently deceased advocate.As per the letter, when Adv. Saritha Thomas, wife of the late Adv. Alex Scaria, sought time to file a fresh vakalat in a case where her husband had filed the vakalat, it is said that Justice A. Badharudeen insulted and humiliated her.This morning, lawyers assembled in Justice Badharudeen's court seeking his apology in open court. However, Justice Badharudeen did not attend the Court today. A notice was later published informing that he wouldn't be holding courtSenior Advocate George Poonthottam, who was in the forefront in moving the resolution before the KHCAA, later informed the General Body that the Judge had agreed to apologise to the advocate in his chamber. However, the Association in the letter has demanded that since the humiliation happened in open court, the apology should also be in open court."When the insult and humiliation happened in the open court, apology should also happen in open court," KHCAA President Yeshwant Shenoy wrote in the letter.The letter says if the judge won't apologise, they will initiate an in-house procedure and until the in-house procedure is dealt with in accordance with law, they will boycott Justice A. Badharudeen's court.It was stated that advocates usually come across isolated incidents of outbursts which are put to rest by an apology. However, it was pointed out that in the case of Justice Badharudeen, this was not an isolated incident. Earlier, also the KHCAA had complained about Justice A. Badharudeen's insensitivity.The letter further mentioned that their reaction was the response of frustration pent up over a period of time.“We bring your Lordship's attention to the fact that this Bar has not reacted in such overwhelming manner before this and the reason for such overwhelming response is the pent up frustration building over a period of time. It is time to seriously introspect the manner in which the Bench is dealing with the bar of late”, the letter stated.Further, there was a request to make video recording mandatory in all courts to check misconduct on the part of bar and bench. It was pointed out that though Kerala was the first court to have e-filing and virtual courts, there is no live streaming or video recordings as done in other High Courts having virtual courts. The letter said that the access can be given to those video recordings to person entitled to it on request.Meanwhile, sources close to the Judge termed it as an issue that stemmed from a miscommunication. It was said that the Judge was unaware about the death of Adv. Alex Scaria and that it was his wife who appeared before the Court on that day. It was said that another woman lawyer who intervened at this point also did not inform the Court that it was the wife of the deceased lawyer that was appearing before the court. It was stated that had it been known that the bereaved wife was appearing before the Court, she would have been given special consideration.Click here to read the letter

KHCAA Rejects Judge's Offer To Apologize In Chamber; Says 'When Insult Happened In Open Court, Apology Also Should Be In Open Court'

Manju Elsa Isac

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