The committee decided to refer the matter to the disciplinary committee.
Kochi: The Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association (KHCAA) suspended Mr Sebastian Paul, a life member of the association, on Wednesday in the wake of the comments he made during a channel discussion on the dispute between the media and the lawyers. The executive committee of the association took the decision based on a complaint received by it on Wednesday against his criticism of the lawyers.
The committee said in a statement that it discussed the “complaint in detail and found that the allegations are prime facie sustainable”. The committee found that the comments he made on the Manorama news channel “will lower the authority and defame the judiciary and the entre legal fraternity.” It said, “you are already facing disciplinary proceedings and again continuously making contemptuous statements defaming the judicial system and the legal fraternity with an ulterior motive to have an unlawful gain from the media.”
The committee decided to refer the matter to the disciplinary committee. Mr Paul said that he was happy as well as sad about the decision. He was happy as the decision would help in generating a debate about the matter. On being sad, he said a section of advocates was still unable to understand the gravity of the problem. He also said that a section of advocates was not interested in solving the issue. He has criticised the advocates in the wake of the former declaring a blockade of the media from the court premises in the state.
