Tis Hazari Violence: Delhi High Court Extends Term Of The Inquiry Commission Upto 31st December, 2021

The Delhi High Court recently extended the term of the Inquiry Commission which was constituted for conducting an inquiry into the incident of clash between police and lawyers which took place in Tis Hazari court premises in November 2019. Noting that the inquiry is under progress and several witnesses are yet to be examined and also looking to the lockdown period from March 2020 onwards and the pandemic situation due to Covid-19, the Bench of Chief Justice D. N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh extended the term of the Inquiry Commission up to 31st December 2021. About the Commission This Court had taken suo motu cognizance of an incident at Tis Hazari Court Complex, New Delhi and vide order dated 3rd November, 2019, a Commission was constituted for conducting an inquiry into the incident. The matter pertained to a scuffle that had taken place between police officials and lawyers at Delhi's Tis Hazari Court, reportedly over a parking dispute within the court premises. Detailed orders were passed by the Delhi High Court on 3rd November, 2019 and 16th December, 2019 and former Delhi HC judge Justice SP Garg was appointed to head the probe. It may be noted that the term of the inquiry commission was extended up to 31st December, 2020 (vide Court's earlier order dated 1st June, 2020). As per the communication dated 17th December, 2020, received from Justice (Retd.) S.P.Garg, 178 witnesses have been examined, however, several witnesses are yet to be examined and so the High Court thought it appropriate to extend the term of the Commission. About the Incident The scuffle broke out on 2nd November 2019 afternoon reportedly over a parking dispute within the court premises. It was reported that the situation intensified as an incident firing led to two lawyers being injured. A press release, issued by the Bar Council of India had condemned the Delhi police for brutally firing at lawyers in Tis Hazari Court, on the issue of car parking. Several lawyers were injured in the incident and the BCI had taken cognizance of the matter. Case title - Court on its own motion v. Union of India & Ors. [W.P.(C) 11652/2019] Click Here To Download OrderRead Order

Tis Hazari Violence: Delhi High Court Extends Term Of The Inquiry Commission Upto 31st December, 2021

Sparsh Upadhyay

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