Lawyers of the Kerala High Court today demanded an apology from Justice A Badharudeen for an interaction he had with a lawyer who had only recently lost her husband..The incident occurred on March 6 when the lawyer requested the Court to give her some more time to change vakalath as her husband had passed away in January this year. Her husband, Advocate Alex Scaria, had earlier undertaken to file a vakalath, but had passed away before he could do so. After the judge's interaction with the late lawyer's wife, who is also a lawyer, Senior Advocate George Poonthottam and several other lawyers practicing before the Court moved a resolution calling for an urgent general body meeting of the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA). The resolution stated that Justice Badharudeen reacted extremely uncharitably and rudely to the lawyer's request. He even asked her, "who is Alex Scaria?" the resolution said.Such conduct is not only unbecoming of the Bench but also disrespects the memory of the late Scaria, warranting an apology from Justice Badharudeen, the lawyers argued.On their request, the KHCAA called an urgent general body meeting at 10 AM today where the lawyers decided to gather en-masse in Justice Badharudeen's court to demand an apology. However, no such apology materialised. .Bar and Bench has confirmed that lawyers, including President of KHCAA Yeshwanth Shenoy, rejected Justice Badharudeen's offer to merely apologise in his chambers and not in open court.The lawyers subsequently decided to boycott Justice Badharudeen's court.Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar heard the lawyers' grievances earlier today and agreed to speak to Justice Badharudeen over the weekend and attempt to arrive at an agreeable solution..This is not the first time that lawyers have objected to Justice Badharudeen's conduct in Court. In February last year, both the KHCAA and the Bar Council of Kerala wrote to the Chief Justice claiming that the judge's interactions with the Bar were humiliating and insensitive. This letter was spurred by an incident involving Advocate Jayakumar Namboodiri TV, who was refused an adjournment despite a serious back injury.To curb unbecoming conduct from both Bar and Bench, the KHCAA had also urged the Chief Justice to implement mandatory video recording of proceedings in all court rooms.It was alluded to in both letters that several other lawyers have complaints regarding Justice Badharudeen as well.
