Two lawyers attempt suicide outside Delhi's Rohini court; Bar Council chief assures requisite action against guilty

A lawyer attempted self-immolation outside the Rohini court in Delhi on Wednesday, with lawyers in the National Capital continuing to boycott work in protest of clashes with the police last week, News18 reported. [caption id=“attachment_7598691” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lawyers staged a protest against the Tis Hazari court incident on Monday. ANI[/caption] The lawyer, identified as Ashish poured kerosene on himself but was stopped from lighting himself on fire by his colleagues. Boycotting judicial work, lawyers continued chants of ‘Delhi Police haye haye’ outside the district courts in Rohini and Saket continued, even though the police personnel called off their stir on Tuesday. Another lawyer climbing a building in the Rohini court complex and threatened to jump off it, PTI reported. Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India appealed to the members of the legal fraternity to maintain peace and harmony in the courts and resume their court work. BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said any incident of violence involving lawyers, police and public will not be tolerated. He said the BCI has taken serious note of all incidents of violence between lawyers and police and all requisite action will be taken against those guilty. He also accused policemen of making provocative statements against judges and lawyers. Lawyers continued their protest and even stopped litigants from entering Saket court complex. However, at Tis Hazari court, the centre of last week’s violent clash between lawyers and police, litigants were greeted with biscuit packets by lawyers at the entrance, Indian Express reported. Lawyer also protested outside the Supreme Court on Monday, demanding enforcement of the Lawyers’ Protection Act. One assistant sub-inspector was suspended and a special investigation team (SIT) was constituted to probe the violence. Police personnel ended the stir after an assurance by senior officers that their grievances will be addressed. Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Golcha assured protesters that a review petition would be filed against the Delhi High Court order in connection with a clash between cops and lawyers at the Tis Hazari court complex. Earlier, taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on the clash between lawyers and policemen at the Tis Hazari court complex, the High Court had said that Justice (retd) SP Garg, a former judge of the court, would hold a judicial inquiry into the matter. A special investigation team (SIT) of the crime branch, headed by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, has recorded the statements of 11 policemen and six advocates injured in Saturday’s Tis Hazari clash to ascertain the sequence of events. Hundreds of police personnel protested outside the Delhi Police headquarters on Tuesday against the clashes reported at the Tis Hazari and Saket courts on 2 and 4 November respectively. The 2 November clash resulted from a parking dispute and left at least 20 policemen and eight lawyers injured.