Attacks on judges and lawyers in Courts !

Protect the institution from motivated attacks. Do not shy away from standing up for what is right & against what is wrong !

Some recent incidents have raised concerns about the safety of the Judiciary. In one case,  Policemen attacked a judge and in another, a lawyer attacked a lawyer. In Andhra Pradesh, insulting writings about the Judiciary were published on social media. The Supreme Court has appealed to the lawyers to protest or resist from attacking the Judiciary.

H.H. (Advocate) Suresh Kulkarni

In Bihar, Policemen attacked Additional District and Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar

The first example is from Bihar. Additional District and Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar, who was working at Jhanjaharpur (Bihar), was attacked by Policemen. The District and Sessions Judge sent a report to the Bihar High Court on 8th November 2021. He wrote that at 2 p.m., Station House Officer In-charge Sharma and a constable entered Judge Kumar’s cabin and assaulted him. The Policemen said, “In the verdict, you slandered our master and sent the report to his superiors”. When Judge Kumar objected, the Policemen abused him and ran after him. At the same time, the Policemen held a gun against Judge Kumar. Other advocates and staff in the Courtroom rushed to the scene and defended Judge Kumar.

The case reached the Bihar High Court. The Chief Justice referred the case to a Bench, which heard it on 18th November 2021. The judge directed the State Government Secretary, Director-General of Police, Home Secretary, District Superintendent of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police to be present. The next hearing of the case was scheduled for 29th November 2021. The Director-General of Police himself was present in the Court at the hearing. He was asked by the High Court to file a sealed report about the incident.

The Police are under the Judiciary and they must obey the orders of the Court. In many cases, the Court’s experience is that due to red-tapism in Government or sometimes the interests of the Police are involved, hence, the requested information does not come to the Court. Therefore, there is a tendency to criticise the delays harshly in a judgment, etc. However, Police harassing the public and attacks on the Courts is a serious matter.

Lawyers attacking a lawyer in Allahabad High Court

Advocate Piyush Srivastava and Advocate Shailendra Mishra have filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Allahabad High Court Bench in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. The petition was heard before the High Court on 17th November 2021. According to the petition, a lady approached Advocate Srivastava. She told him to apply for bail in case no. 580/2018. Accordingly, Advocate Srivastava applied for bail on 30th October 2021. The accused was granted bail after due arguments in the Court. After this hearing, Advocate Srivastava came out of Gate No. 6 of the Court. Satish Kumar Verma, who had introduced himself as an advocate in the Collector’s office, stopped Advocate Srivastava and said to him, “It was not good of you to get bail for the accused. Even if you did get bail, do not pay the bail bond”. However, Advocate Srivastava got the accused released after completing the bail bond process. Once the proceedings were completed, at around 4.40 p.m., as Advocate Srivastava was leaving Gate No. 6, he was assaulted by 30 to 40 advocates and verbally abused. Advocate Srivastava and Advocate Shailendra Mishra lodged a Police complaint after the assault. After filing a prima facie information report, the advocates went to the High Court and filed a writ petition.

Attack on a junior Judge in Lucknow pending for 4 years

It was argued in a petition filed that a Lucknow Judge was attacked on 22.3.2017, and such attacks are frequent in Courts. Therefore, such matters should be taken seriously. The High Court directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police to inquire into the matter and submit a report. The High Court directed that the District Court and Sessions Court Judge, President of the Lucknow District Bar Association and Central Bar Association should co-operate in the inquiry and bring the culprits before the Court. On 23.3.2017, the Police filed a charge sheet against the attack on the junior Judge; but no further action was taken. This case has been pending for the last four years.

When the Judiciary is attacked, advocates should protest : Chief Justice said to the advocates

Speaking on the Constitution Day, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana urged the lawyers to protect the judiciary from ‘motivated and targeted attacks’, and said that the most important feature of the Indian Constitution is the fact that it provides a framework for debate.

The CJI said, “I want to tell all of you, that you must assist judges and the institution. Lawyers and judges are all ultimately part of one large family. Protect the institution from motivated and targeted attacks. Do not shy away from standing up for what is right and against what is wrong.

You are following in the footsteps of the great men and women who created the vision document of this Nation and are also direct participants in the redefining of that vision.

As people with intimate knowledge of the Constitution and the laws, it is also your responsibility to educate the rest of the citizenry about the role that they play in society. The history, present and future of this Nation lie on your shoulders. This is a heavy, if not the heaviest,  burden to bear”. CJI Ramana said people have high expectations from Advocates.

Allegations that the pillars of Democracy are not allowed to function in the country

Addressing the legislature, the Chief Justice said, “The legislature feels that the intervention of the Judiciary undermines its functioning”. But that’s not true. We do not intend to replace them”.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present. He said, “We can call the Constituent Assembly, the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and the Judiciary as twin brothers because they have been created by the Constitution. We have been preserving thousands of years of Indian culture. We want development, but we are not allowed to work with the help of values such as freedom of speech in a Democracy. We must work together”. Kiran Rijiju, (India’s Law Minister) and Advocate General were also present on the occasion.

Kiran Rijiju said, “When Parliament passes a Bill or when Assembly adopts certain laws, until or unless it is unconstitutional, why should there be a reason to say that we will not follow this law”. He expressed his concern over ‘disturbing elements’ who oppose constitutional and legal decisions. He added that it has become a ‘fashion for some to say that they do not accept the Constitution and it is not in their favour’.

All in all, he said, “2-3 pillars of Democracy are not allowed to work. Then a question arises – even after 74 years of Independence, should the game of finger-pointing be allowed to continue on any available platform ? And, can all this be called maturity ?”

– H.H. (Advocate) Suresh Kulkarni (Founder Member, Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad and Advocate in Bombay High Court, 14.10.2021)