Thaindian News

Panaji, Feb 11 (IANS) Goa lawyers continued their agitation against the suspension of a district judge for the second day, with more lawyers striking work Friday. Lawyers from South Goa district headquarters of Margao staged a demonstration and boycotted court proceedings Thursday to the protest the suspension of 54-year-old District and Sessions Judge Desmond D’Costa by the Bombay High Court.

On Friday, lawyers from sub-district courts in Ponda, Pernem, Quepem, Canacona, courts joined the agitation.

D’Costa was recently in the news after he acquitted a 40-year-old serial killer, Mahanand Naik, in a murder case involving one of his 16 women victims.

A delegation led by the South Goa Advocates Association (SGAA) president Anacleto Viegas submitted a memorandum to the registrar of the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court, demanding the immediate reinstatement of the judge.

“The agitation will continue if Judge D’Costa is not reinstated,” Viegas said.

“D’Costa’s suspension - for a matter which he judicially decided and against which no appeal was filed by the state government - is highly deplorable. D’Costa is in the dock for merely doing his duty. The association will be constrained to take all available recourse possible, including direct action, if his suspension is not revoked,” Viegas said.

A civil society organisation also held a public meeting in D’Costa’s support Monday.

“The meeting is a mark of protest against the decision of the honourable judiciary to suspend an upright man like Judge D’Costa,” social activist Satish Sonak said.