Lawyers Slap Cop Outside Saket Court 2 Days After Tis Hazari Clash

After lawyers and the police clashed at Tis Hazari Court complex two days ago, an on-duty police personnel was allegedly thrashed by advocates outside Saket Court on Monday, 4 November, officials said, PTI reported.

A video of the purported incident shows lawyers heckling a police personnel who is riding a bike. One of the lawyers is further seen slapping the policeman.

When the policeman was leaving the spot, the lawyer also hit his bike with his helmet.

“A policeman was beaten by lawyers at Saket Court . A video of the incident has also surfaced,” a senior police official said.

As per NDTV, several lawyers “barricaded” themselves inside the Saket Court and a clash reportedly erupted between another group of lawyers and police officers at Karkardooma District Court in Anand Vihar in Delhi.

Six cases were registered in connection to the clash between the police and lawyers at Tis Hazari court complex which took place on Saturday, injuring at least 20 police personnel and several lawyers as well as leaving many vehicles vandalised and set afire, a Delhi Police spokesperson said on Sunday.

Earlier, members of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) had called for a one-day strike across all district courts in the national capital on Monday.

During Monday’s strike, some lawyers allegedly assaulted an auto-rickshaw driver when they found him capturing the protest on his phone, The Hindustan Times reported.

According to HT, a few lawyers allegedly misbehaved with two journalists by taking their mobile phones away as they were covering the protest and making videos.

HC Postpones Bar Elections

The Delhi High Court on Monday postponed elections of the bar associations at Tis Hazari and Karkardooma district courts following the clash between lawyers and police, PTI reported.

The bar associations elections at Tis Hazari court and Karkardooma court were scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

A Bench of justices GS Sistani and Anup Jairam Bhambhani said that the elections are postponed till further orders.

"In view of the unfortunate incident that took place at Tis Hazari Courts on 2 November, we deem it appropriate to postpone the elections of the Bar associations at Tis Hazari and Karkardooma courts scheduled for 5-7 November, respectively.”

"Accordingly, elections of the bar associations at Tis Hazari and Karkardooma Courts stand postponed till further orders," it said.

The Bench said a copy of the order be brought to the notice of the respective election commissioner and court observer immediately.

Delhi HC Lawyers Abstain From Judicial Work

Several advocates in the Delhi High Court and all district courts in Delhi on Monday abstained from judicial work, protesting against the clash between lawyers and the police at the Tis Hazari Court complex.

The lawyers neither participated nor appeared in proceedings, and only proxy counsel took dates.

Advocate Naginder Benipal, executive member of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, said that lawyers supported and cooperated with the call to abstain from work in the high court.

“We are abstaining from work in solidarity and in view of the attack on lawyers by policemen. An executive committee meeting will be held during the day in which the future course of action will be decided.”

Advocate Naginder Benipal, Executive Member, Delhi High Court Bar Association

Similarly, lawyers at the six district courts in the national capital – Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Saket, Dwarka, Rohini and Patiala House – boycotted work throughout the day. The future course of action will be decided after meetings.

Advocate Dhir Singh Kasana, general secretary of Coordination Committee of All District Courts Bar Association in Delhi said that a complete boycott was observed at Saket District Court and the public was not allowed inside court premises.

“We are not allowing any lawyer to go inside courtrooms. We are sitting at the gate and requesting all to participate,” he added.

Another lawyer, Manish Bhadauria, said that lawyers gathered at the gate of the Karkardooma district court and all police officials were removed from the premises.

Advocate Rakesh Chahar, secretary of Rohini Bar Association, said that lawyers at the Rohini District Court complex abstained from work.

“Lawyers have matters to argue today but they feel that what has happened was wrong and hence they are not appearing in hearings. Everybody is demanding security and safety for lawyers.”

Advocate RK Wadhwa, Chairman, New Delhi Bar Association

He further said that fewer police officials were present at the Patiala District Court complex and those present were without weapons.

Advocate Jaiveer Singh Chauhan, secretary of Tis Hazari Bar Association, said that lawyers at Tis Hazari boycotted work.

Advocate KC Mittal, chairman of Bar Council of Delhi said that they supported all bar associations and observed the strike.

“We will help them out. It is in the larger interest of the society. We will be taking feedback from bar associations and support them,” he said.

Similar Protest in UP, Coimbatore

Lawyers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow also abstained from judicial work in the high court as well as subordinate courts, in protest against the alleged police atrocity against their colleagues at Delhi's Tis Hazari court.

At a meeting of the Awadh Bar Association headed by its president AM Tripathi, the incident was strongly condemned, PTI reported.

Several lawyers from Kanpur to Coimbatore protested against the Delhi Police, ANI reported. Kanpur lawyers vandalised police van and various vehicles were set to fire during the fight.

The Allahabad High Court Bench Action Committee had also called for a one-day strike. District Bar Association president Nasir Haider Kazmi said the lawyers boycotted work in all 22 districts of western Uttar Pradesh, including Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat and Shamli.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI, NDTV, The Hindustan Times)