High drama at DC office in Kalaburagi as advocates and officials lock horns

KALABURAGI

The Kalaburagi District Commissioner’s office premises on Friday witnessed high drama for around two hours with the members of the Gulbarga Bar Association, Kalaburagi, locking horns with the officials, including senior police officers, over the issue of handing over a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner.

The members of the Bar Association staged a protest demanding that the State government enact the Advocates Protection Act in the ensuing Assembly Session and urged Deputy Commissioner Yeshwant Gurukar to receive their memorandum.

President of the association Rajkumar S. Kadaganchi said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in an event organised by the advocate’s association at Bengaluru on November 5, had assured that the Advocates Protection Bill would be tabled and passed in the ensuing Assembly session. He urged the State government to table the Bill for the safety of advocates as the atrocities against them were increasing.

The “peaceful” protest by the Bar Association members turned unruly when Mr. Gurukar refused to come down to the main entrance of Vikas Soudha (Deputy Commissioners’ office complex) to receive their memorandum. The advocates staged a ‘rasta-roko’ and burnt tyres on the streets to vent their anger, raising slogans against the State government. Traffic was disrupted as the agitators blocked the vehicular movements for hours together.

Sensing trouble, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Adduru Srinivasalu rushed to the spot and tried in vain to pursue the advocates to withdraw the protest. Despite being conveyed that he was busy in a meeting, the advocates insisted on meeting Mr. Gurukar. Even when the police officer told the protesters that as the meeting had concluded and they could meet the Deputy Commissioner in his office, they insisted on Mr. Gurukar coming outside to receive the memorandum.

 Finally, the advocate’s four-hour-long rasta-roko from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. was called off after Regional Commissioner Krishna Bajpai reached the spot and heard the demands of the advocates and received their memorandum.