I will not be deterred by social media posts: Madras HC judge

Chennai: The Madras High Court Judge M Dhandapani while addressing lawyers in an open court on Thursday said that he will not be deterred by social media posts circulating against him.

"I will not be deterred by such messages and I would not hesitate to act when things take an ugly turn," said the Justice.

There were a string of social media posts against the judge for the remarks he made against the behaviour of lawyers with police personnel at public places. He was dealing with an anticipatory bail application from advocate Tanuja Rajan and her daughter advocate Preeti Rajan.

On June 16, he had instructed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the State unit of the Bar Council of India governing the legal profession to reinforce methods to curb unprofessional behaviour from lawyers.

The Justice said that the legal profession is noble and lawyers cannot enter "street fight" with people even if the other person is wrong. He had also said that the harsh reality is that such behaviour from lawyers is on the rise.

S Haja Mohideen Gisthi, representative of the TN Bar Council filed a status report before the Justice yesterday. The report said that the Bar Council had received several complaints about "professional misconduct" of certain lawyers. The first complaint was filed by the DCP, Flower Bazaar and the Kilpauk police against two women lawyers.

Madras High Court has issued notices seeking an explanation from both lawyers. The disciplinary committee of the Bar Council would proceed with the complaints as per the Advocates Act.