Chaos prevailed in the high court premises as protesting lawyers tried to disrupt proceedings and prevented colleagues from appearing before the court.
Karnataka chief justice PD Dinakaran, facing land grabbing allegations, was today forced to suspend proceedings and leave his court amid noisy protests by a section of lawyers who abstained from court protesting his continuance.
Chaos prevailed in the high court premises as protesting lawyers tried to disrupt proceedings and prevented colleagues from appearing before the court and also forced some judges hearing the cases to suspend proceedings.
As justice Dinakaran began hearing cases amid tight security, a group of advocates owing allegiance to Advocates Association of Bangalore (AAB) resorted to slogan shouting urging him not to preside over the bench.
The protesters said justice Dinakaran should not continue in the wake of the Supreme Court Collegium 'delinking' his name from the panel of judges shortlisted for elevation to the apex court.
Justice Dinkaran, who was hearing cases unmindful of the protest, however, suspended the proceedings later and left the court hall.
But the protest by AAB members was denounced by their other colleagues as violative of a high court order which had stayed an AAB resolution to abstain from court.
The protestors also vented their ire against mediapersons covering the event by assaulting a camera man of a leading private TV channel.
The AAB had passed a resolution calling for the protest to "uphold the dignity and integrity of the judiciary".
Justifying their action despite the court stay, AAB president KN Putte Gowda told PTI, "Where is the question of violating any stay order when our desire is to uphold the judiciary's integrity and dignity?"
AAB general secretary, R Rajanna, said the stay order did not hold good as it was a resolution passed by the society and not a government body. "This is the first time that the high court had intervened in matters of the association".
"Ninety nine percent of lawyers have abstained from work, though some who supported the chief justice have appeared", he said.
However, the government advocates today continued to appear before the court.
Police had provided tight security in the court premises, as well as in Dinakaran's court hall.
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