Date:11/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/11/stories/2008121158780300.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Lawyers boycott courts

Staff Reporter

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Struggle continues: Left Democratic Front convener Vaikom Viswan inaugurating a rally organised in the city on Wednesday by lawyers and advocates’ clerks to mark the 300th day of their hunger strike demanding the establishment of a High Court Bench in Thiruvananthapuram. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Members of the Thiruvananthapuram Bar Association on Wednesday boycotted all legal proceedings in the district courts to mark the 300th day of their indefinite relay-satyagraha in front of the Vanchiyoor court complex demanding the setting up of a High Court Bench in the capital city.

The day began with a massive rally, involving senior lawyers and advocates’ clerks, which started from the court premises around 11 a.m. and culminated in front of the Secretariat.

Vaikom Viswan, convener, Left Democratic Front, inaugurated the rally. The march also highlighted the unanimous resolution passed by the first Communist government headed by E.M. Sankaran Namboodiripad in 1957 for the constitution of a Bench in the capital city.

Meanwhile, a 12-hour painting by Shaji Palkulangara that depicted all the agitations for the Bench since 1957 on a six-metre-long canvas started here in front of the Vanchiyoor court complex on Wednesday.