Two government pleaders crossed swords in a courtroom here on Thursday over which one of them should represent the State in the high-profile bar bribery case. By evening, one of them lost his job.
The legal wrangling occurred between legal adviser C.C. Augustine and special public prosecutor (SPP) K.P. Satheeshan in the court of Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Vigilance, D. Ajith Kumar. The government later stripped Mr. Satheeshan of his legal brief.
The court convened to decide the future course of the case in which former Finance Minister K. M. Mani was the sole accused. The sitting evoked public curiosity because Mr. Mani’s political prospects hinged to an extent on the outcome of the protracted litigation.