Kiran Bedi as BJP CM candidate opens old wounds: Delhi lawyers up in arms

The induction of Kiran Bedi in the BJP and the prospect of her becoming the party’s chief ministerial candidate may have left party workers ecstatic but it has opened old wounds in certain other quarters. The lawyers’ fraternity in Delhi is up in arms against her projection as the BJP’s choice for the top job. Leaders of the All Delhi Bar Association Coordination Committee have warned the party that they would launch a parallel campaign against it if Bedi didn’t apologise for her action 27 years ago. On a morning of 1988, a group of Delhi Bar Association members had gathered outside Bedi’s office in north district to protest against the handcuffing of one of their colleagues, Rajesh Agnihotri, who was arrested on the charge of theft. Bedi, who was the DCP (North) then, ordered lathi-charge on the agitating lawyers causing them serious injuries. [caption id=“attachment_2054139” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Kiran Bedi.[/caption] The commission of enquiry led by DP Wadhwa, a sitting Delhi High Court judge, concluded that Agnihotri’s arrest was “justified” but termed his handcuffing “illegal”. It also described the police action as “indiscriminate and unjustified”. The committee declared that Bedi had connived with a municipal councillor in organising and transporting a mob to Tiz Hazari which indulged in violence against the lawyers. “A person who ordered lathi-charge on peace loving lawyers does not deserve to be the chief minister. Even the Wadhwa Commission has recommended that she should not be given any higher post. The judicial verdict should be respected,” advocate Sanjeev Nasiyar, president of the Tis Hazari Bar Association and convener of the coordination committee, told Firstpost. Nasiyar himself is a member of the BJP. Demanding an apology from Bedi, he said, “The BJP will have to make clear its stand on this issue. We will give it time to clarify whether Bedi has any remorse and is ready to offer apologies.” He claimed that his committee enjoys the support of over 60,000 families of practicing lawyers and its one call for poll boycott can cause damage to the party’s prospects. “This is an emotional issue for lawyers and we will discuss and finalize our line of action soon. We will take a decision on whom to support in the upcoming assembly elections in the national capital, said RK Vadhwa, chairman of the committee. Expressing his anguish over the controversial decision of the saffron party, Delhi High Court Bar Association president Rajiv Khosla said, “PM (Narendra) Modi is doing good job but Bedi cannot be his replica in Delhi. By assigning her greater responsibility, the BJP has done injustice to the lawyers’ community.” “Justice Wadhwa committee had recommended that Kiran Bedi should not be given to any top post and therefore, she was not elevated to the post of Delhi Police commissioner despite being senior enough. How can the BJP fight the forthcoming polls under her leadership and think about her nomination as the chief ministerial candidate, overlooking the High Court justice’s observations?” he asked. Murari Tiwari, ex-secretary of Delhi Bar Council, said they cannot support BJP until it withdraws its decision. “We won’t support the BJP only because of Bedi. Recounting the horror of the day when lawyers were assaulted by cops and “plain clothed hired men”, advocate Pramod Nagar, former president, Karkarduma Bar Association, said the decision of the BJP has “refreshed the old wound”. “Even those lawyers who were not taking part in the agitation and sitting in their chambers in Tis Hazari were pulled out and brutally thrashed by Bedi’s hired goons,” he said.