KOCHI: A meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kochi on Saturday has decided to constitute a permanent committee headed by the Advocate General to sort out any contentious issues between media persons and advocates in the state. The meeting convened to resolve the spat between media persons and advocates in Kochi and other parts of the state.
The permanent committee will have three representatives each from Bar Council of Kerala, High Court Advocates Association and Kerala Union of Working Journalists. In the case of issues connected with the police occurs, the state DGP could also be invited for the meeting, the Chief Minister told reporters after the meeting.
On the issue of opening the media room in the high Court, the chief minister said it was for the Chief Justice to take a decision on all matters taking place within the court premises. The good relationship prevailed between media persons and advocates before July 19 should be revived, Mr. Pinarayi said.
“What has happened should be considered as a closed chapter. Both media and advocates have nothing to be proud about what have taken place in the past few days”, he said. A confrontation between media persons and advocates in the High Court is unthinkable as the HC is having more than 5,000 advocates while hardly 100 media persons visits the HC, he pointed out. The Chief Minister also said the government will not tolerate violence from any side.
