Lathicharge on Advocates in Ghaziabad: An Opinion by Advocate Sanjeev Sirohi

Police Had No Business To Lathicharge Lawyers In Court

I am definitely left completely astounded, appalled, aghast and ashamed to see how terribly the police was lifting chair openly and throwing at lawyers and beating lawyers most mercilessly in Ghaziabad in West UP as is being shown in many news channels on October 29, 2024 which left many of them bleeding just like some time back we had seen in Hapur which is again in West UP and that too not in some road as happened in Hapur but right inside the court and that too in front of District Judge Mr Anil Kumar of Ghaziabad District and Sessions Court following a heated exchange that occurred between him and the lawyer and that too right inside court during hearing of an anticipatory bail plea over hearing of anticipatory bail on priority which he denied and said that the case would be entertained as per the listing. It must be mentioned here that the scuffle that broke out between lawyers and Judge took a very ugly turn after the District Judge most unexpectedly called the police to remove the protesting lawyers from the courtroom who were raising slogans against him over the disagreement. Why police and even the District Judge forgets that lawyers are the officers of the court and they have to be treated with utmost respect even if they raise some slogans and the solution cannot be by hurling chairs most brazenly at them as police did which has definitely left me completely flabbergasted as we saw in different news channels and so also lathicharging them as if they were some rioters or hooligans?

It must be duly acknowledged that lathicharge on lawyers at the drop of a hat cannot be ever justified unless and until there is no other alternative! Lawyers are most tolerant and most disciplined and to always blame lawyers cannot be ever justified or condoned under any circumstances! If lawyers have grievance then the wrinkles in the crease can be and must be ironed out peacefully and properly between lawyers and judges!

I must say that when lawyers are accepted as indispensable pillars of justice then how can lathicharge on them be ever justified or condoned? It has to be conceded that courts cannot ever function without the cooperation of lawyers and for this to happen calling police to lathicharge will definitely dent the impeccable credibility of Judges themselves and will definitely only serve to worsen the already complicated situation! This it is the Judges themselves who must first of all realize this and so also the lawyers then!

It must be disclosed here that the former District Bar President Mr Nahar Singh Yadav promptly sent a complaint of the unsavoury incident to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. He alleged that advocates Mr Jitendra Singh and Mr Abhishek Yadav had reached the court to oppose the anticipatory bail plea and very politely urged the District Judge to hear the arguments on priority or transfer the case as the courtroom was crowded. Mr Nahar Singh Yadav also then revealed that the District Judge lost his shirt and after losing his temper started abusing the lawyers.

He added further that the District Judge then called the police force and police personnel headed by DCP (City zone) Rajesh Kumar Singh and ACP (Kavinagar) Abhishek Srivastava came in and resorted to baton charge without any provocation from lawyers which left over a dozen advocates injured as reported in media. He also very rightly demanded that the CCTV footage of the courtroom should be preserved and real truth emerges. It must be also mentioned here that while speaking on the incident, the Ghaziabad Additional Police Commissioner Mr Dinesh Kumar P said that, "Hearing was going on in the courtroom and advocates and many others were present inside the chamber. An advocate demanded the transfer of bail. When it was rejected, the altercation started."

Needless to say, this altercation should ideally have been settled amicably but alas that was not to be! None other than the CJI Hon'ble Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud has always underscored on greater collaboration between lawyers and judges so that such ugly situations don't emerge ever in the courts which in my opinion are more sacred than any place of worship in this world! I was certainly most happy when I myself heard the incumbent CJI Hon'ble Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud saying that never call districts and trial courts subordinate courts but just saying is not enough and this must translate into reality!

No doubt, there can be no quibbling ever with the irrefutable fact that the CJI must himself before retiring on November 9, 2024 which will be his last working day take suo motu cognizance of it just like he has done so many times even in past and this directly concerns the district judiciary of which both the lawyers and so also the judges are an inseparable and essential part and so without wasting any more time must set up a high powered committee to probe into it to get to the bottom of it and take action against those who are guilty of engineering the huge violence in court premises of Ghaziabad! This would also send a clear message to the police that lawyers have to be treated like officers of the court and not like rioters or hooligans and who exactly is responsible for this fiasco that turned so ugly!

Of course, there can be definitely just no gainsaying that no person leave alone a lawyer in his right senses will ever bat for a lawyer if he assaults a Judge but if without any assault, a Judge orders the police to resort to lathicharge then it is definitely most worrying! It is unfathomable as to how the lawyers of Ghaziabad District and Sessions Court Bar Association can be lathicharged so ruthlessly and that too not even on the non-practising lawyers who never get lathicharged at least I have never heard rather on those lawyers who most proudly call themselves "practicing lawyers" and some senior lawyers also most unfortunately got injured it is reported in media. If Mr Kapil Sibal who is President of Supreme Court Bar Association of India, Mr Manan Kumar Mishra who is the Chairman of the Bar Council of India and also a Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Prashant Bhushan, Mr Harish Salve, Mr Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay whose videos are circulated many times in different lawyers group in Meerut due to his huge popularity as I have myself seen among others don't speak up on such a pressing issue which is directly concerning the advocates fraternity and maintain a deafening silence on such a serious issue then nothing on earth can ever be more unfortunate than this most unpalatable reality! I am sure that if not all at least some of them will speak up most boldly like they speak up on so many other issues which don't directly concern the lawyers fraternity themselves!

In conclusion, it is high time and reforms must be ushered in police just like has been done in Army by initiating the Agniveer Yojana as was recommended so very commendably by none other than the Supreme Court itself in the landmark case of Prakash Singh vs Union of India in 2006 itself! Even after 18 years of this landmark verdict having been delivered, we see no police reforms being implemented on ground which is definitely most heart breaking to see and only serves to devalue the relevancy of none other than the top court itself which makes for most depressing reading! None other than Mr Kapil Sibal himself had very strongly pointed out recently that the police powers have been increased manifold under the new laws and it is UP which tops the State list in maximum custodial death, maximum fake encounter killings and other crimes pertaining to the police which definitely has to be taken most seriously and not just glossed over as we have been witnessing since independence till now most unfortunately!

It must be mentioned that it was on October 26, 2024 that eminent and senior Supreme Court lawyer and so also the President of Supreme Court Bar Association and former Union Law Minister of India and Rajya Sabha MP and so also former Additional and Solicitor General of India Mr Kapil Sibal said while delivering a most captivating lecture that he delivered at the Sikkim Judicial Academy arguing most fluently saying that the true test of any judiciary lies in public trust. He said that, "If people lack confidence in the judiciary, it undermines its effectiveness." He also very sagaciously touched upon the colonial remnants of the criminal justice system of India. He suggested that India needs to rethink colonial-era laws and so also practices, such as police remand, which he characterized as antithetical to modern democratic principles. While underscoring the urgent and dire need for reforms that align perfectly with best global practices, Sibal was quick to point out that, "In developed countries, investigations precede arrests while here, arrests precede investigations. In the developed world, the allegation is first investigated and then the arrest takes place. In our world, the arrest comes first and the investigation takes place later. Which country (apart from India) has police remand? It's the colonial past which has given the police this power." Absolutely right! Mr Kapil Sibal has thus frankly conceded without mincing any words that nothing has changed in last 78 years of independence! He also rightly pointed out that, "Oppressive laws are being implemented. What is precedent? There is no such thing as precedent. Each judge decides based on his or her understanding of the law, whether s/he should interpret the law one way or the other. The only precedent is the precedent of the individual Bench that decides a particular case in the way that it decides - that is the only precedent. That is it. Who suffers? Ordinary people … It is time for the judiciary to realise, that it's time for them to stand up and to ensure that what our forefathers gave us need to be zealously protected. These are rights that they gave to the citizens of our country. They can't be wasted in this fashion. It's time for citizens to speak up, it's time for lawyers to speak up and it's time for the judges to stand up." It is the "poorest of the poor" who suffer the most and spend more time in jail as an undertrial than the criminal who commits the crime as he is unable to fight the case which reflects the shoddy state of affairs in our legal system which must be changed root and branch! He also added that a revamp of the Indian criminal law is required while briefly also pointing out that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, has only made things worse.

No doubt, the powers of the police definitely have increased manifold under the new laws! Now even lawyers are not being spared which definitely cannot be a healthy sign for our Indian democratic system! I have just no hesitation in saying that the police had just no business to lathicharge the lawyers in Ghaziabad which has resulted in the ugly scuffle that broke between the lawyers and police which only serves to denigrate the reputation of Judges, Advocates and Police which can never be in our national interests! So, it is high time and Centre must step in and usher reforms even in police which till date has not been initiated! There can be just no denying or disputing it! It thus merits no reiteration that the earlier this is done, the better definitely it shall be in our national interests in the longer run!