Judge warns lawyers of contempt of court proceedings for disrupting court functioning

According to the judge, the police official who asked Ms. Prasad to stop the performance acted in excess of his instructions.

B. Kalam Pasha, the Palakkad district judge, who was in the thick of a controversy over his reported instruction to stop the dance performance of danseuse Neena Prasad midway through the programme last week, has warned a section of the lawyers of Palakkad of contempt of court proceedings for disturbing the functioning of the court.

A protest was organised by the Palakkad unit of the All India Lawyers Union at the court premises the other day.

In his letter to the president of Palakkad Bar Association, which was accessed by The Hindu, the judge said the police official, who asked Ms. Prasad to stop the performance, acted in excess of his instructions. He noted that the DySP to whom message was conveyed to reduce the volume of the microphone used at the venue acted in excess of what was instructed and caused all the problem.

While noting that a Public Prosecutor was among the protesters, who were shouting slogans in the court premises and in vicinity of the court, the judge felt that protest had disturbed the functioning of the court.

The judge also referred to the decision of the Kerala High Court which dealt with the public protest organised by the CPI (M) in 2002, and hit the functioning of some courts. The High Court had held that “every judge and every staff of the court is a public servant, and every advocate is an officer of the court” and no one shall obstruct their functioning and discharge of public duties. “Such action, apart from being an offence under the existing laws, would be an infraction of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the citizens of this country,” the High Court had held.

While noting that the protest occurred “in the court premises by certain lawyers of Palakkad Bar in robes,” the judge felt that the Palakkad Bar had no role in it and it was not based on any decision taken by the Bar Association. “As a responsible Bar, I am sure that you will not act against the guidelines and directions" of the High Court, the judge noted.