The Ghaziabad Bar Association has filed a petition with the Allahabad High Court, seeking the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the recent police lathi-charge on lawyers at the Ghaziabad Court.

Case Brief:

Clashes erupted between police and lawyers at the Ghaziabad District Court in Uttar Pradesh on October 29, triggered by a heated exchange between a district judge and a lawyer. In response, the Ghaziabad Bar Association has filed a petition through Advocate Jawahir Yadav, requesting the Allahabad High Court to initiate a special investigation team (SIT) probe into the incident, with oversight from the court.

The plea also seeks a show cause notice to be issued to the district judge under Article 215 of the Constitution of India, which empowers High Courts to impose penalties for contempt of court. Additionally, it calls for the preservation of CCTV footage from the clashes and requests that the police refrain from taking any action on two criminal complaints lodged against several lawyers involved in the incident.

Videos of the altercation, which surfaced on social media, depicted police using force and lathi charges to remove lawyers from the court premises. In retaliation, angry lawyers set fire to the police chowki (outpost) located within the court.

According to the Bar Association's plea, the conflict stemmed from District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar's alleged refusal to hear an anticipatory bail application related to an encroachment case. The complainant's counsel reportedly protested the continuation of interim relief for the accused and sought a hearing, but the judge is said to have bluntly declined to address the matter or transfer it to another court.

The situation escalated further when the judge allegedly became enraged and verbally abused the lawyers after they requested a transfer of the case. Following this, he called in security personnel, leading to the clashes between police and lawyers.

In the aftermath, Ghaziabad Police filed two FIRs against approximately 50 unidentified lawyers under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, including former Bar President Nahar Singh Yadav.

The Bar Association emphasized that its petition aims to uphold the dignity of the judicial system, asserting that its members were subjected to brutal assaults and that there was a blatant disregard for the court's authority and the rights of advocates.