Advocate sent to jail in Karnataka for making wild allegations against judicial system
Bengaluru, Feb 8: The High Court of Karnataka has sentenced an advocate to prison for one week for "making wild allegations against the judicial system and the Judicial Officers in particular".
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi recently ordered that advocate K S Anil be taken into custody and again presented before it on February 10.
Anil, who is facing a criminal contempt of court proceedings in the HC had filed a memo-cum-written submission in which he had urged that his case be transferred to another bench as he had filed a complaint against the sitting judges.
Quoting the advocate's submission, the HC in its order said, "The statement made by the accused in paragraph 6 making allegations against the Judges of this Court clearly shows that the accused is having no regards to the judicial system. The accused being a practicing advocate and consistent behavior of the accused on the earlier occasions and today making wild allegations against the judicial system and the Judicial Officers in particular indicates that he is trying to demean the institution and is lowering the image of the judicial system in public eye."
The Court said it is left with no other option except to pass an order for taking the accused into judicial custody for committing contempt of Court, it said.
The original criminal contempt case against Anil was filed in 2019. He had been issued a bailable warrant which he had received on October 14, 2019. He accepted another notice in May 2020. Another suo-moto contempt petition was initiated against him.
The court noted that when police authorities made an attempt to serve him the bailable warrant, he refused to respond. The police filed a detailed report to the court about this.
The HC only quoted a paragraph in which Anil claimed he was ill and wants both the Chief Justice and other judges to recuse themselves from his case and all his cases before another common bench.
Anil had alleged that "All this attitude of KAR HC judges itself proves the severe abuse of Contempt act/law that in lack of transparency, to keep judicial corruption alive and live-streaming is not done fully."
The HC in its order said, "We need not refer to other statements made in the memo at this stage as they are in the form of allegations against the Judges of this Court."
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50 Munambam residents join BJP after Waqf (Amendment) Bill passed
Ernakulam: Hours after the Parliament passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 50 residents from Munambam, a coastal village at the centre of the ongoing Waqf land dispute in Kerala, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). All of them are Christians who had previously supported the Congress and CPI(M), according to Joseph Benny, convener of the Munambam protesters’ action committee.
The move came as BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited Munambam and addressed the local protesters, assuring them of continued support. “This is an important day in the state's political history. This agitation has given strength to the Prime Minister and Parliament to pass the amendment Bill. We will be with you until you get back revenue rights over the land,” Chandrasekhar said. He added that the Bill has the potential to restore land rights to the people of Munambam and accused their elected MPs and MLAs of betrayal.
Around 600 families, mostly Christians, have been protesting for over 170 days after the Kerala State Waqf Board staked claim to the 400 acres of land they have inhabited for generations.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church-linked Malayalam daily Deepika criticised the Congress and CPI(M) for rejecting the Church’s demand that their MPs support amending “anti-people sections” of the Waqf law. It accused them of attempting to instil fear among minorities by citing Sangh Parivar attacks on Christians in northern states and Manipur.
The BJP has positioned itself as the only party backing the cause of Munambam residents, while accusing both CPI(M) and Congress of prioritising Muslim interests in Kerala. Though both LDF and UDF later extended support to the Munambam agitation, their MPs voted against the amendments.
The Munambam area falls under the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Congress MP Hibi Eden, and the Vypen Assembly segment, represented by CPI(M) MLA K N Unnikrishnan.
