Kochi, March 7, 2025
Lawyers at the Kerala High Court on Friday expressed their strong protests against the “curt” remarks by a judge against a women lawyer and demanded an apology in the open court.
Following the incident that took place on Thursday, senior lawyers called for an urgent meeting of the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association (KHCAA) and passed a resolution.
The incident occurred on March 6 when the lawyer Saritha Thomas requested the Court to give her some more time to change vakalath as her husband Alex Scaria had passed away in January this year.
The meeting of the Association stated that Justice A. Badharudeen reacted uncharitably and rudely to the lawyer’s request.
He even asked her, “Who is Alex Scaria?”.
The lawyers pointed out that this type of conduct is not only unbecoming of the Bench but also disrespects late Scaria, and hence Justice Badharudeen should apologise.
On Friday, the KHCAA called an urgent general body meeting and decided to demand an open apology from Justice Badharudeen.
But after this attempt failed, the peeved lawyers decided to boycott Justice Badharudeen’s court.
Later, the lawyers met Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar who said he would speak to Justice Badharudeen over the weekend and try to reach an agreeable solution.
Incidentally, this is not the first time lawyers have objected to Justice Badharudeen’s conduct in Court.
In February last year, the KHCAA and the Bar Council of Kerala wrote to the Chief Justice claiming that the judge’s interactions with the Bar were humiliating and insensitive.
To curb unbecoming conduct, the KHCAA had also urged the Chief Justice to implement mandatory video recording of proceedings in all courtrooms.(Agency)
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