The office-bearers of Hubballi and Dharwad Bar Associations on Thursday assured the High Court of Karnataka that they will not prevent any advocate from representing the three Kashrmiri students arrested for shouting pro-Pakistan slogans, and will make all efforts to ensure that the unruly incident that occurred on the Dharwad court premises on February 24 was not repeated.
The Bar Association Hubballi (BAH) has also clarified to the High Court that it had already modified its February 15 resolution of asking its members to abstain from representing the accused students.
Advocate-General Prabhuling K. Navadgi, who had intervened to resolve the issue that cropped up owing to BAH’s resolution, made these submissions before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoundar during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by 24 Bengaluru-based lawyers, who had challenged BAH’s resolution.
When the Bench said that the BAH should pass a fresh resolution clearly indicating withdrawal of the February 15 resolution, the A-G, on instruction of the office-bearers who were present in court, said that the association’s governing council will pass a fresh resolution.
Mr. Navadgi also told the Bench that the office-bearers have already reached out to a large section of the association’s members to ensure that there will not be any hindrance for the accused students to engage service of a lawyer to represent them. While appreciating the A-G’s intervention to resolve the issue, the Bench said that his intervention avoided the High Court from passing a drastic order on BAH’s resolution, which curtails the right of the accused persons from appointing an advocate of their choice under Article 22 of the Constitution.
Police protection
Following these assurances, the Bench passed an order directing the Hubballi-Dharwad police to collect the names of advocates, who either shouted slogans on the Dharward court premises or prevent advocates from representing the three Kashrmiri students, and submit it to the High Court for initiation of action. The Bench also continued its earlier order issued to the Hubbballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner to provide security to the advocates from Benngaluru when they go to Hubballi and Dharwad to file applications for bail on behalf of the students.
Meanwhile, the Bench made it clear that the applications for bail to be filed on behalf of the accused students should be treated like any other application for bail filed in normal course before the court. The Bench also directed the Belagavi prison authorities to allow lawyers to meet the accused students to get their signature to represent them in court.