KANNUR, July 29: Life in the legal profession is proving tough for judicial officers handling sensitive political cases in north Kerala. Open challenges to judges who pass verdicts against political parties are not uncommon, neither is mob violence in court halls, all of which is causing disquiet in legal circles.

Recently, posters appeared on Kannur streets threatening the First Class Judicial Magistrate who had thrown out a firing case against Communist Marxist Party leader M V Raghavan, filed by some CPI(M) workers.

Earlier this month, when the politician was produced before the Koothuparamba Magistrate Court, there was a massive gathering of Democratic Youth Federation of India workers at the court all baying for his blood.

Senior lawyer P J Antony, who had appeared in the court on the behalf of T T Antony, executive magistrate and co-accused in the Koothuparamba firing case, says bloodshed was avoided only because the police formed a human chain around Raghavan.

``We were so afraid that I left my coat in the magistrate's chamber so that the mob would not recognise me,'' he says.According to a judicial officer who has served in Kannur, the incident proved that the police and the ruling politicians were in cahoots to browbeat the judiciary.

``There was no reason on the part of the police to delay things to such an extent that a massive crowd was able to gather in the court,'' he points out.

The local bar association has taken a serious view of the matter and raised a strong protest. ``These are sad developments and such wild accusations against judicial officers could prove fatal for the morale of those in the lower rungs of judiciary,'' says an eminent lawyer who claims political threats to the judiciary are on the rise.

The secretary of the Kannur Bar Association, Haleem, agrees, adding, ``We will not tolerate any attempts to threaten or harass judicial officers.'' The bar, he said, will fight such moves at any cost.

But as an officer who has served in Kannur says, this will not prove too easy. Political parties, he notes, accuse judges of bias.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.