Association bars lawyer for derogatory remarks against judges in social media

Madurai: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Bar Association suspended W Peter Ramesh Kumar from the association for having made derogatory statements against judges and women advocates in the social media.

The decision was taken at the executive meeting of the association held here on Wednesday. “We strongly condemn the defamatory statements made in Whatsapp, Youtube and Facebook by Peter Ramesh Kumar against the honourable judges and women lawyers,” M. Subash Babu, MMBA president, said in a press release.

“Such baseless, imaginary and scandalous allegations are willfully and wantonly posted in social media with a sole intention of tarnishing the image of women lawyers, judges, their family members and judiciary among the public,” he said.

Kumar was suspended from MMBA till disciplinary proceeding against him in the bar councils are completed. He was one of 14 lawyers who were suspended by the Bar Council of India on September 22, 2015. The court had also issued a suo motu criminal contempt petition against him for reportedly being involved in disrupting court proceedings on September 16, 2015.

Kumar, a former MMBA president, had disrupted court proceedings when a section of lawyers protested at the court demanding the declaration of Tamil as the official language in court. When Justice Sudhakar intervened and warned the protesting lawyers of strong action, Kumar reportedly challenged the court to take action against him if it had the “guts”.