The police and lawyers clashed at a court in Ghaziabad on Tuesday after an altercation between an advocate and a judge about the hearing of an anticipatory bail plea escalated, PTI reported. The lawyers also set fire to a local police outpost, the police said.
The ruckus erupted at about 11 am in the district and sessions court complex in the Raj Nagar area following the argument, according to the news agency. The police resorted to lathis to disperse the lawyers, India Today reported.
The news agency quoted several unidentified lawyers as claiming that they suffered injuries as the police officers used lathis against them.
Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra said that the lawyers had set fire to a local police outpost.
Later in the day, several purported videos of the clash emerged on social media. One video showed police officers wielding lathis in a crowded courtroom. An officer was also seen lifting a wooden chair, gesturing as if he was about to throw it towards the crowd.
In another video, police officers could be seen inside the premises of the court complex wearing riot gear. A third clip also showed the police officers and the lawyers embroiled in a confrontation inside the courtroom.
PTI quoted Mishra as saying that a group of advocates had allegedly tried to exert pressure on the district judge during the hearing of a bail application and “attempted to assault” him.
The news agency quoted an unidentified lawyer as saying that the group of advocates demanded that District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar hear the plea on priority. However, he denied the request and said that it would be heard as per the listing, the lawyer said.
“On this, the group of advocates raised slogans against the district judge,” PTI quoted the lawyer as saying. “The matter took an ugly turn when court proceedings were interrupted and the judge called the police in. Cops reached the courtroom and charged lathis due to which over a dozen lawyers suffered injuries.”
Mishra alleged that Advocates Nahar Singh Yadav, Abhishek Yadav, Aurangzeb Khan and Bilal Ahmed, among others, tried to exert pressure on the district judge during the hearing and attempted to assault the judge.
“Police intervened appropriately and dispersed them by using mild force,” the police officer added. “Meanwhile, a group of agitating advocates set ablaze a police chowki.”
After the clash, Nahar Singh Yadav complained about the matter to the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court, PTI reported.
According to the complaint, advocates Jitendra Singh and Abhishek Yadav had urged the judge to hear the arguments on the bail petition on priority or transfer the case as the courtroom was crowded, PTI reported.
However, the judge started abusing the lawyers, Nahar Singh Yadav claimed.
Subsequently, the judge called the police, who used lathis, leaving more than a dozen advocates injured, the complaint added.
Nahar Singh Yadav urged the High Court to ensure that the security camera footage of the courtroom was preserved. The complaint was signed by eight advocates, PTI reported.