Congress asks CM to sort out media-lawyers impasse

Kochi: The Congress on Wednesday called for the immediate intervention of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to end the impasse between the lawyers community and the media.

Speaking to reporters here, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that the present impasse has to be settled at the earliest.

"I will take up the issue again with the Chief Minister as it cannot be allowed to drag," said Chennithala.

On Tuesday, the media here was informally told by Kerala High Court officials that they have to be discreet while getting judgements from the office and they might have to bear with the inconvenience for a while.

On Tuesday morning at Kollam district court the lawyers ensured that the media was not allowed entry while the judgement of a murder case was being pronounced.

"Since we were not allowed entry, we had to rely on the information provided to us by people whom we had entrusted to hear what the judge was saying," said a journalist who was waiting outside the court.

Since the last week both parties have been locked in a stand-off.

The issue first broke out at the Kerala High Court here and went out of hand when the two groups clashed.

The situation turned for the worse when the lawyers closed the main gate of the Thiruvananthapuram district court and threw stones at journalists assembled outside, injuring five.

Following this, Supreme Court Chief Justice T.S. Thakur asked his colleague Justice Kurian Joseph to sort out things.

Two Kerala High Court judges held a session with the journalists representatives in the state capital and promised to see that their grievances are looked into.

Vijayan, during a meeting with representatives of both sides, asked them to ensure that matters are not allowed to flare up. The media fraternity is upset that their access to courts is being prevented.