Appoint govt counsel to defend 5 fishermen: MHAA 1 day boycott

The Madras High Court Advocates Association today announced it would boycott court proceedings for a day on November 10, demanding that Tamil Nadu government appoint a counsel to defend the five fishermen sentenced to death by a court in Sri Lanka on drug smuggling charges.

A decision to this effect was taken at the MHAA General Body meeting here today, which passed a resolution.

MHAA noted that the Centre had already appointed a counsel on behalf of the union government and requested the Centre to use its good offices to speed up the fishermens' release.

The Association decided to extend legal assistance to the fishermen by appointing a legal assistance team.
 

It condemned the act of the Sri Lankan government in 'foisting' the heroin smuggling cases against the Indian fishermen who it said were fishing in Indian waters.