Lawyers in Bengaluru on Tuesday boycotted proceedings at the Karnataka High Court and several subordinate courts, protesting attacks and alleged killings targeting advocates and demanding stronger legal protection for those practising in the state. The mobilisation also led the High Court to indicate that it would register a suo motu public interest litigation petition on lawyer safety, while a separate bench initiated contempt proceedings against the association that called for the boycott.
The protest was held following a call by the Bengaluru Advocates’ Association (AAB) for a statewide demonstration. Lawyers at the High Court, City Civil Court, Magistrate Courts and Mayo Hall Court stayed away from proceedings and later gathered near the High Court’s Golden Gate. They demanded adequate security for practising advocates and effective legal safeguards against attacks.
At the start of the day’s proceedings, a large group of senior and other advocates led by AAB president Vivek Subbareddy and Karnataka State Bar Council president R. Rajanna placed their concerns before a division bench comprising Justice D.K. Singh and Justice H. Shantibhushan. According to the report, the bench accepted the representation concerning lawyer protection and said it would register a suo motu public interest litigation petition.
At the same time, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru in Court Hall 1 initiated contempt proceedings against the advocates’ association over its call for the protest and boycott of court proceedings. The report did not provide details of the next hearing or specify the proceedings initiated against individual lawyers.
Addressing the gathering outside the High Court, Subbareddy alleged that police stations were intervening in civil disputes and exercising authority beyond their criminal justice responsibilities. He claimed that some police stations were functioning as alternative forums for civil disputes and becoming centres for handling property-related matters. These allegations were made by the association during the protest and were not independently established in the report.
The lawyers linked the demonstration to the killing of advocate Manjunath Shriram of Whitefield, the killing of advocate Manjunath of Annapoorneshwari Nagar and an alleged attempt on the life of advocate Venkataramana Sunnakki of Gauribidanur. The association demanded that the state’s proposed or existing legal protections for advocates be strengthened and called for a provision prescribing up to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for attacks on lawyers.
The protesters also opposed quasi-judicial processes conducted under the leadership of sub-divisional magistrates and deputy commissioners, arguing that such procedures should be removed. Their stated concern was that property disputes and related proceedings were being handled in ways that weakened legal safeguards and increased risks for advocates.
Karnataka State Bar Council president Rajanna said the council fully supported the AAB’s protest. Vice-president Shivamurthy said all 191 advocates’ associations in the state had extended unconditional support. By around noon, the gathering had grown near the Metro station and the Vidhana Soudha gate, according to the report.
The immediate legal and administrative response will now depend on the High Court’s proposed public interest proceedings, the contempt case against the association and any action by the state authorities on the advocates’ demands for protection.
