New Delhi: Condemning the attack on media
persons in Bangalore, Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey
Katju on Friday said that the advocates who have committed the
"outrage" deserve "severe punishment in accordance with law".
"I am deeply distressed that some lawyers of Bangalore
today took the law into their own hands and physically
attacked media persons. This is highly objectionable and
condemnable," he said in a statement here.
Observing that the lawyers had "no business and no right"
to prevent media persons from covering the event, Katju said
"no leniency should be shown" to the advocates "as they appear
to have violated their solemn duty as Officers of the Court".
"Lawyers are supposed to uphold the law and not become
law breakers, which they appear to have done. ...In my opinion
those lawyers who have committed this outrage deserve severe
punishment in accordance with law," he said.
The former Supreme Court Judge said he had spoken on
telephone to some lawyers of Bangalore "who claimed that it
was media persons who attacked the lawyers, and not
vice-versa."
"But I do not believe this version since the TV footages
I have seen only show media persons with injuries and no
lawyers with injuries," Katju said.
"To the best of my knowledge the media persons were only
covering the event of the appearance in court of Janardhana
Reddy, which they have every right to do as Freedom of the
Press is a guaranteed right under Article 19(1)(a) of the
Constitution," he said.
The trouble erupted when a section of lawyers assaulted
media persons who were in the court complex to cover former
Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy's
appearance before a CBI court in an illegal mining case.
Police in Bangalore had to fired teargas shells and used
batons to quell violent crowds of advocates, who pelted stones
and attacked media persons and police in the city civil court
premises, leaving several of them injured including a DCP.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 02, 2012, 20:12