Assault Of SC Lawyers At Gautam Budh Nagar Court : Supreme Court Warns President & Secretary Of Bar Association Over Non Appearance

In the suo motu case initiated following the assault on two members of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at Gautam Budh Nagar District Court during a lawyers' strike, the Supreme Court today issued fresh notices to the President and Secretary of Jan Path Diwani Evam Faujdari Bar Association, Gautam Budh Nagar.A bench of Justices BR Gavai and K Vinod Chandran passed the order, taking into account withdrawal of vakalatnama by the counsel representing President and Secretary of the bar association.It asked the President and the Secretary to appear on the next date, clarifying that their failure to appear would be viewed seriously."Issue fresh notice to the President and Secretary of the Jan Path Diwani Evam Faujdari Bar Association, Gautam Budh Nagar returnable on February 17...the notice be served through the Registrar of the Gautam Budh Nagar District Court. The notice would state that if the President and Secretary of the Association fail to appear before this Court on the next date, the Court would proceed further to consider the issue and pass appropriate orders...We clarify that an avoidance to appear before this Court by the President and Secretary of the Association would be viewed seriously" dictated Justice Gavai.It may be recalled that in April, 2024, the Court had issued notice to the State of UP over the non-functioning of CCTV cameras in District Courts. At the outset of today's hearing, AAG Garima Prashad (for UP) informed that the state has released about Rs.82 crores for installation of new CCTV cameras.On his part, Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia (one of the two advocates assaulted at the Gautam Budh Nagar district court) submitted that the issue involved is far larger. Referring to the issue of strikes in District Courts, he said that there are many courts where strikes are regularly taking place and advocates are being forced to not participate in judicial proceedings.With regard to Gautam Budh Nagar bar, Bhatia alleged that if advocates from other areas appear in the district court, they are called "outsiders" and misbehaved with. He further claimed that advocates appear before the District Judge (and other courts) without bands, and even the District Judge has written a letter to the Supreme Court, but the Jan Path Diwani Evam Faujdari Bar Association has not filed a response.The senior counsel also called for identification of the advocates who misbehaved with his female colleague at the Gautam Budh Nagar District Court and pointed out that the Bar Association was given the responsibility to do so. He additionally reported that last month, another advocate was assaulted, who contacted him seeking assistance. "These incidents are recurring in nature...they are happening even after these 2 incidents", he remarked.Hearing the submissions, and following withdrawal of vakalatnama by the counsel representing President and Secretary of the Jan Path Diwani Evam Faujdari Bar Association, the Court issued fresh notices.BackgroundIn March, 2024, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh mentioned before the Supreme Court the issue of manhandling and ill-treatment of Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia and Advocate Muskan Gupta by lawyers at District Court, Gautam Budh Nagar during a strike. This mentioning, before a bench led by then CJI DY Chandrachud, was joined by Attorney General R Venkataramani and Senior Advocates KK Venugopal, Jayant Bhushan.As per claims, the incident in question took place on March 20 when a junior lawyer snatched the band of Gaurav Bhatia. Advocate Muskan Gupta, on the other hand, who was at the District Court complex to seek adjournment in a matter, was asked to remove her band and leave the courtroom. She was also statedly manhandled by a group of lawyers in the process.Considering the submissions, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the incident and registered a case. It issued notice to the President and Secretary of the Jan Path Diwani Evam Faujdari Bar Association Gautam Budh Nagar and directed:"(i) The District Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar shall ensure that the CCTV footage of the incident is preserved in his safe custody pending further orders of this Court;(ii) The District Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar, shall submit a report to this Court on the incident which took place in the course of the proceedings before his Court. The report shall also identify the specific persons who were involved in the incident;(iii) Likewise, the District Judge shall also obtain a report from the administrative staff attached to the court of Smt Babita Pathak, occupying Court No 8 in whose court, Ms Muskan Gupta has alleged that an incident involving her manhandling took place."In April, the Court considered a report submitted by District Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar, which mentioned that CCTV footage of the incident could not be retrieved as the CCTV cameras in the District Court were not functioning on the relevant day. Taking serious note of the fact, the Court issued notice to the State of Uttar...

Assault Of SC Lawyers At Gautam Budh Nagar Court : Supreme Court Warns President & Secretary Of Bar Association Over Non Appearance

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Assault Of SC Lawyers At Gautam Budh Nagar Court : Supreme Court Warns President & Secretary Of Bar Association Over Non Appearance

Debby Jain

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