Kerala High Court Chief Justice Nitin M Jamdar has met with various stakeholders in an attempt to amicably settle the Bar's recent dispute with Justice A Badharudeen, Bar and Bench has learnt..The Bar's grievances concern the interactions between Justice Badharudeen and lawyers appearing in his court. The most recent incident occurred on March 6, when advocate Saritha Thomas requested the Court to give her some more time to change vakalath as her husband, advocate Alex M Scaria, had passed away in January this year. Justice Badharudeen allegedly responded in an uncharitable manner driving Thomas to tears. .On Friday, the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA) rejected Justice Badharudeen's offer to apologise in his chambers and boycotted his court. KHCAA also wrote to the Chief Justice demanding an open court apology from Justice Badharudeen. .Bar and Bench has confirmed that Chief Justice Jamdar met with various stakeholders over the weekend including senior judges of the Court, Senior Advocate George Poonthottam (who initially called for action from the KHCAA), advocate Saritha Thomas and several other lawyers. .The Chief Justice has also spoken to Justice Badharudeen to understand his side of the situation..According to sources, Justice Badharudeen was unaware of Scaria's death as well as the fact that Thomas was his wife.Thomas allegedly remained silent to a question on who had filed the previous vakalath and at no point did anyone else involved with the case inform him that she was the widow of the recently deceased lawyer. Justice Badharudeen is said to be standing firm in his belief that had he known that the lawyer before him was the bereaved wife of Scaria, she would have been given special consideration. The incident occurred because the Court was not told that Scaria had passed away, sources said. .According to sources, KHCAA President Yeshwanth Shenoy was not present at the meeting with the Chief Justice this weekend. As such, the Bar's next steps remain uncear until the KHCAA general body meeting scheduled for 1 PM on Monday, March 10. Consequently, it is uncertain whether Justice Badharudeen will be sitting in the morning session of court as lawyers are yet to officially call off their boycott of his court. Even if this incident is smoothed over, KHCAA could still choose to continue its protest as this is not the Bar's first row with Justice Badharudeen. The Association has stated on various occasions that it has received many complaints from advocates regarding Justice Badharudeen's conduct in Court. However, in its letter to Chief Justice Jamdar, KHCAA had stated that the Bar will accept any apology from the judge delivered in open court and move on from the issue.
