ORDER

In this petition for suo motu initiation of proceedings for contempt against the respondents, the petitioners, who are the members of the legal profession, express their concern over the manner in which certain sections of the Bar, in particular the respondents, have permitted themselves some statements and utterances against Judges and the judicial system. Annexures I, II, III and III-A are said to contain reports and statements of the first respondent and the same are referred to as evidence of a trend which, if permitted, would seriously impair the public image of and scandalise the judicial system.

2. These proceedings are the fall-out of certain events that culminated in initiation of proceedings for the removal of a sitting Judge. A Committee of lawyers called "Sub-Committee on Judicial Accountability" came to be formed in which the respondents, who are also the members of the legal profession, took an active part. Certain statements attributed to them are the subject-matters of the present proceedings for initiation of proceedings of contempt against them. The allegations in the petition are "that the members of the legal profession who are members of the so-called Sub-