Lawyers-media conflict a blot on the state, Congress urges Governor to intervene

The Congress party on Thursday requested the Kerala Governor to step in immediately to end the lawyers-media impasse in the state.

Addressing reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after the party's political affairs committee meeting, its state unit President V.M. Sudheeran said the conflict between the two sides has now crossed all limits and is a blot on the state.

"Numerous attempts to resolve the issue initiated by the apex court, Kerala High Court and the Chief Minister have all fallen flat. Now we request the Governor to step in and initiate a discussion in the presence of Chief Minister, Kerala Assembly Speaker, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, representatives from the media and lawyers, to resolve the issue once and for all," said Sudheeran.

Since July 19, the lawyers have barred the entry of the media in several courts of the state, including the high court.

On several occasions, the lawyers have driven out the media from covering the court proceedings, and the last such incident took place at a court in Ernakulam on Wednesday.

Sudheeran also criticised the Vijayan government for allowing the issue to drag on so long and said the action of Kerala Police is also suspect.

"We recently saw that a case was registered against two lady journalists based on a complaint by lawyers, and this is what baffles all. The role of police is not fair and the government did not step in either," said Sudheeran.

The reason Sudheeran pins high hopes on the role of Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam is that the latter is also a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.