Edit: Brutes in black coats

The hooliganism unleashed by the men in black coats on media representatives and the police on Friday in the Bangalore civil court complex should serve as a wake-up call for saner elements in the judiciary to stop this dangerous trend before it turns into a brazen confrontation between two pillars of democracy. There is every reason to believe that the incident was a well-planned attack to ‘teach journalists a lesson’ for taking a hard stand against lawyers for bringing the city to a grinding halt during a protest in January.

Friday’s orgy of violence raises serious questions about the conduct of a section of the legal fraternity, especially the young ones in the lower rungs. The growing animosity towards the media has triggered a cry among a section of the legal fraternity to make the civil court complex a ‘no-entry zone’ for journalists. The lawyers’ intention to turn the court complex into a fiefdom beyond the purview of the media, which, in turn, denies citizens the right to information, is a violation of the spirit of democracy and should be nipped in the bud. More worrying was the police’s reluctance to intervene till they themselves came under attack.

What happened in Bangalore cannot be seen as an isolated case. Professionals in many arms of public service — civil servants, police, journalists, doctors — have grievances from time to time. But while most of them air these in a civil and courteous manner, it is often the supposed upholders of the law who seem to run amuck at the drop of a hat — be it in New Delhi, Varanasi, Chennai, or elsewhere. It is high time the powers that be in the judiciary realised that lawyers are bringing not just their profession but the entire judicial system to disrepute and reined them in.