Madras HC raps erring advocate in property-grabbing case

If an advocate crossed the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ and indulged in wrong doings, the courts cannot show indulgence, the Madras High Court has observed and refused to grant anticipatory bail to an advocate and 19 other accused in a .

Justice P N Prakash said an advocate had an arduous duty to fight for the cause of his clients and only such advocates deserved to be protected at all costs to save democracy.

“The legal system has been illegally maneuvered to give legitimacy for usurping the property of a doctor,” he said, referring to the case in which the advocate and others apprehended arrest for alleged grabbing of the property of Dr Mohan Gandhi in Pammal here in 2010 and selling it in colluision with some ‘bigwigs’.

The Judge said it was not an ordinary case of criminal trespass and assault as thorough homework appeared to have been done by legal brains.

Police, acting on a direction from the court on a petition by the doctor, arrested three persons and included some 21 identified and 30 unidentified persons as accused in the case.

All the accused, including advocate Jayakumar, approached the court for anticipatory bail.

After going through the case dairy, the judge in his order said “this court is shocked to find that the evidence against Jayakumar is indeed very damaging and incriminatory in nature and it does not merely disclose the offence of trespass but other serious offences of fabrication of evidences as well which cannot be easily brushed aside.”

The judge said custodial interrogation of Jayakumar and another Uthira Kumar, the prime accused, was necessary.

While advising the Bar to ponder over steps for protecting the institution from assault from members of the legal fraternity, the judge in his order hoped that “leaders do not play God and support their delinquent followers blindly and give illegal protection under their cover for in due course, Frankenstein’s monster will devour them