Chennai Slipper Meets Gang of Lawyers

On 7th February 2009, Deccan Chronicle carried an article about a woman who hit her adversary lawyer with slipper. You may read the article here

Feb. 6: An angry woman who came to the Madras high court premises on Friday for her divorce case hearing allegedly hit her husband’s lawyer with her slippers after the two had been involved in abusive verbal exchanges, near a family court on the second floor.

Many lawyers then ganged up and beat the woman in full public glare before she was arrested and remanded.

The woman identified as Gayathri, a resident of Sastri Nagar, was assaulted by advocates as she was dragged to the police station inside the high court premises.
The police registered a case of assault against the woman but have not initiated any action against the lawyers who had severely beaten her up.

It was only the magistrate at the seventh metropolitan court in George Town who noticed her swollen face and ordered that she be taken to the general hospital after remanding her.

In his complaint C. Balasubramanian, the lawyer who represented Gayathri’s husband, said that the woman had abused him and hit him on his face with her slipper. He also said that Gayatrhi and her father had threatened to kill him.

Gayathri’s lawyer, George William, told this newspaper on Friday evening that he heard the other advocate foul mouth his client.

“I went down to inform the police when the incident happened. Other lawyers asked me not to help my client. They never wanted me to support a woman who had assaulted a lawyer. She was also badly beaten up,” said George William.

“Her lawyer had not filed any complaint though she was assaulted by a group of advocates. We will certainly initiate action against those who attacked her as well,” a city police official said.

There are many many important facets of this incident that I now unravel in this blog.

Before I start, however, I'd want to make it clear that whole incident clearly manifests the unethical and inappropriate behaviour of all concerned.

I'd state that Not one person physically involved in that altercation has behaved within their own respective limits.

• Advocate C. Balasubramanian the man assualted was representing the husband of the woman named Ms. Gayatri


• Advocate C. Balasubramanian was performing (presumably very well) in favour of husband giving motive for woman to assault him with her slippers


• If a woman can attack a strange and unrelated man (regardless of his legal stature and its consequences), what would she be doing to her husband behind the closed doors of her house and gravy of DV laws that are in her favour?


• Ms. Gayatri clearly overstepped all of her natural and social limits of her modesty as woman.


• Ms. Gayatri clearly represents league of women who are unashamed of being violent


• If Advocate C. Balasubramanian was gaining unfair advantage over Ms. Gayatri for her husband, she was within her rights to instruct her lawyer to stop the negotiations
.

• If Advocate C. Balasubramanian was successfully blocking her extortion scheme and attempts to obtain unfair advantage, he was honestly doing his job while she was trying to intimidate and use unlawful pressure


• Ms. Gayatri tried to use physical force and death threats probably to obtain a favorable decision or stall the unfavourable decision


• Advocate C. Balasubramanian obviously enjoyed respect of his peers judging from the fact that many other advocates ganged up to beat the woman


• Lawyer Gang who assaulted Ms. Gayatri also overstepped their professional, personal and social limits.


• The Police has registered the case against the woman. FAIR ENOUGH


• The Police have not registered the case against the group of lawyers but are promising to do so. We will have to watch.

FROM SIF perspective, contacting Advocate C. Balasubramanian is definitely worthwhile effort.

He is able to expose a violent woman that we all must be able to learn from.