KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council came under fire from People's Progressive Party president Datuk M. Kayveas yesterday for "policing and punishing" lawyers instead of helping them progress in the profession.
Kayveas, a lawyer, said the case of lawyer T. Vijayandran, who was forced to sue the Bar Council for the use of its auditorium to launch his second book, Presumed Guilty, was proof that the council was not interested in the welfare of its members.
Kayveas said this showed that the lawyers in the Bar Council were uninterested in helping their peers but more interested in monitoring their activities.
"Shame on you, Bar Council. Where you should be helping lawyers, you are more interested in policing and punishing them," he said when launching Presumed Guilty at the auditorium.
| Datuk M. Kayveas says the Bar Council is not interested in the welfare of its members |
He said he had expected much of the council led by Ragunath Kesavan but "even this group has not met lawyers' or my expectations".
Kayveas said the fact that Vijayandran had to take the matter to court was unfortunate as he should have been given permission at the onset to use the auditorium.
"I am puzzled by their actions,' he told about 200 lawyers, friends and relatives of Vijayandran.
Kayveas said the council should instead concentrate on helping lawyers by holding courses for those new to the profession on how to set up a business and conduct themselves in court.
"This will help young lawyers who don't know much about whether they should join a senior lawyer on graduating or eventually run their own firm."
Vijayandran, 54, whose first book No Intention To Kill was launched last year, had filed a RM160 million suit against the council in May for refusing him use of its auditorium to launch Presumed Guilty.
Earlier this month, High Court judge Datuk T. Selventhiranathan recorded a consent judgment in the case after Vijayandran and the council reached a settlement.
Selventhiranathan, who met the parties in his chambers, ordered the council to allow Vijayandran to use the auditorium at a date of his choosing and also to place his advertisement about the book back on its website.
Vijayandran had claimed that his request to launch the book was denied because the council's Legal Profession Committee was in the process of studying his first book to determine if there were possible breaches of the Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules 2001, the Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules 1978 and the Bar Council Rules and Rulings 2008.
| T. Vijayandran sued the Bar for the use of its auditorium to launch his second book |
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