The Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association (KHCAA) has drawn a clear line in the sand—and they’ve used some sharp ink to do it.
In a no-nonsense letter to Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar, the KHCAA has rejected his invitation for a discussion about the suspension of Senior Advocate George Poonthottam. But this wasn’t just a polite declination—the Association made it emphatically clear: judges, stay in your lane.
“We’d like to set the record straight,” the letter reads, “interference from judges in the internal matters of the KHCAA is not welcome.” The Association then added that it will be raising its concerns directly with Chief Justice Nitin M Jamdar, particularly regarding certain orders passed by a bench headed by Justices Nambiar and Easwaran during a recent lawyer protest.
The protest in question was sparked by a contentious hike in court fees—something already under judicial scrutiny through a pending PIL before the Chief Justice’s Bench. Yet despite this, the Division Bench took issue with a letter from the KHCAA president that informed the Chief Justice of the protest. The bench said the letter struck the wrong chord: full of advice, veiled threats, and lacking the expected decorum.
KHCAA, for its part, scoffed at the allegation. “We’re still trying to figure out what these ‘veiled threats’ were,” the Association shot back, suggesting that the judge may have found ghosts between the lines. “As the saying goes, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder—we’re still looking for what you saw.”
The stormy correspondence comes against a backdrop of bar-bench friction ignited months ago when Justice A Badharudeen had an unpleasant exchange with the wife of a deceased lawyer—herself a lawyer. KHCAA rallied behind her, demanding an apology from the judge after a resolution was introduced by Poonthottam. The judge refused; a courtroom boycott followed.
Then came a twist: Chief Justice Jamdar met both parties, and Justice Badharudeen reportedly explained it was a misunderstanding. Matter settled? Not quite.
The KHCAA was irked that Poonthottam took the lead in resolving a dispute it claimed as its own. Their response? Suspension and disciplinary action. And while the Association had earlier written to the Chief Justice of India calling for Justice Badharudeen’s transfer, it now appears to have done a soft retreat, blaming that move on the fallout from Poonthottam’s solo act.
“Justice Badharudeen is one of the best on this Bench,” KHCAA now says, noting that while courteous conduct is valuable, integrity ranks higher—and that writing to the CJI was “a painful duty.”
The Association also alleged that Poonthottam had made inappropriate remarks about Justice Badharudeen’s religious background—an accusation that further inflamed tensions.
All the while, KHCAA insists that its protest against the court fee hike was legitimate and that the court’s negative orders were possibly aimed at pushing it toward a quiet compromise with Poonthottam.
As the final note in their letter makes clear, the KHCAA isn’t looking for backdoor negotiations or unofficial channels. They’ve requested Justice Nambiar not to reach out through intermediaries and reaffirmed that the Association won’t bend its rules for any judge’s “person of interest.”
It’s a message wrapped in formality, but the message is unmistakable: the bar won’t bow.
