UNITED WE STAND......WE THE ADVOCATES

by Mohanavadivelan S , July 06, 2016

I wonder at the way the bank employees calling for the strike, demanding better pay than the good pay and other things they are already provided with and so the railway employees and other of different organization private, public and government run alike. Even the auto rickshaw drivers and coolies for that matter are better placed. They issue strike notice and go about it at will. The result is immaterial and what counts is the freedom , the said section of the people in the society enjoy. Whereas the advocates’ community which played such a pivotal role in the freedom struggle and has been playing in all major movements thus far across the country is at sixes and sevens We have had such occasions before taking on the government or the judiciary itself astutely and achieved our goals in the past.

But the wolves in the garb of goat among ourselves have done us in. It all started with that infamous Feb.19 incident. It was an incident which had all the ingredients to topple the government that ruled the state then, but did not go to that extent of even unseating a few police officers, who dared the might of the judiciary and still came victorious, for the judiciary only found wanting in courage and wagged it’s tail between the legs, shamefully. The lack of leadership among us carried the struggle then towards failure and the woe still continues The recently framed Rules by the erstwhile Madras High Court, now the Chennai High Court under section 34(!) of Advocates Act in the name of disciplining the advocates has also been the fallout of the lack of leadership and vision in the advocates fraternity. The artificial partition of the High Court complex was the death knell for the advocates in tamilnadu. The people that matters and are at the helm of affairs in the judiciary carry on their vengeful activities against the advocates according to their whims and fancies,without any let or hindrance. Now the advocates community and their elected members in both Madras High Court Advocates Association and the Bar Council of Tamilnadu are at daggers drawn in the present scenario and the judiciary has shown clearly what they are capable of, in divide and Rule favouring a few who have back door influence with them Now what is the matter in issue? Disciplining the Tamilnadu advocates only.We are the proud owners of an institution, Madras High Court and it’s legacy which is 150 years old and the stalwarts we have seen emanating from ourselves would never leave us to be seen as rogues and found wanting to be disciplined. The mean people who endeavour to do this better remember this before hand.If they want to do something for this society, let them set out to better the politicians and the executives first,and not us the advocates, maximum number of whom are at a lose end. The inability of the Madras High Court in this front has been obvious from it’s inaction on Feb 19 issue. Let them better retrospect themselves what could they do to the Director General of Police, The commissioner of police and hundreds of policemen who left a trail of destruction on that black day, unleashing the state sponsored violence , against unarmed, innocent practicing advocates ,whose scars are still intact. So, we the advocates are the soft targets being weaker sections of the society in general, not to take into account the members of the association which is headed by the one and only Mr.Shanmugasundaram, advocate and former MP, for whose sake there was a tremendous, behemoth, and massive agitation in the long past in 1994.It’s strange now he remains cool as cucumber witnessing the turmoil. The trend now is, we the advocates can be suspended, dismissed without notice with scant respect to the Rule of the natural justice, at the blink of an eye itself looking at the judge in the court. Besides the contempt of courts provisions in law, already existing ,the judiciary has made it sure that it is well armed to take on, we the advocates with further amendments to High Court Rules under section34(1) of the advocates. Where a rap on the knuckles is more than enough, the High Court, Madras has been using ballistic missiles in the name of disciplining the advocates at Chennai. It’s not that we the advocates alone are to be disciplined but the entire judiciary needs a revamp for which the co operation between the bench and the Bar is absolutely necessary. As of now we the advocates here in Chennai are made the scapegoat. The need of the hour and what we the advocates lack at present both are Avant Garde leaders to take us forward and to take the bull by the horns to protect us---we ,the advocates.