Lawyers clash with police in Ghaziabad court after arguing with judge and setting an outpost on fire

Lawyers and baton-wielding police personnel clashed in a courtroom Ghaziabad Tuesday after the judge called on the force to remove a group of protesting lawyers who raised slogans against him over a disagreement.

Some lawyers claimed they suffered injuries as police personnel used batons on them, and police officials alleged that agitating lawyers set fire to a local police post.

The commotion broke out around 11 am at the district and sessions court complex in Raj Nagar area following a heated altercation between a lawyer and the judge over the hearing of an anticipatory bail case.

Dramatic scenes of the courtroom clash surfaced on social media. In one such video, police personnel were seen brandishing batons, while one even brandished a wooden chair and gestured as if to hit the lawyers.

Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra told PTI that a group of lawyers “tried to put pressure” on the district judge during the hearing on a bail application and “tried to attack” him.

Requesting anonymity, a lawyer told PTI that a group of lawyers had demanded that District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar take up the anticipatory bail case on priority, which he denied and stated that the case would be heard as per the list.

“After this, the group of lawyers raised slogans against the district judge. The case took an ugly turn when the legal proceedings were interrupted and the judge called in the police. Police reached the courtroom and charged lathis, leaving more than a dozen lawyers injured. ” he claimed.

Meanwhile, former district bar president Nahar Singh Yadav sent a complaint about the incident to the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court.

He alleged that lawyers Jitendra Singh and Abhishek Yadav, who reached the court to oppose the interim bail plea, had urged the district judge to hear the arguments on priority or transfer the case as the courtroom was full.

Yadav alleged that the district judge lost his cool and started abusing the lawyers.

He added that the judge then called the police, and personnel led by DCP (City Zone) Rajesh Kumar Singh and ACP (Kavinagar) Abhishek Srivastava entered and resorted to baton, leaving more than a dozen lawyers injured.

He also demanded that the CCTV footage of the courtroom be preserved. The complaint was signed by eight lawyers.

Police Commissioner Mishra told PTI that during the hearing, lawyers Nahar Singh Yadav (ex-bar association chairman and Samajwadi Party leader), Abhishek Yadav, Aurangzeb Khan and Bilal Ahmed, along with their fellow lawyers, tried to put pressure on the district judge and attempted an assault.

“The police intervened appropriately and dispersed them with mild force. Meanwhile, a group of agitating supporters set fire to a police chowki,” he added.

Earlier, purported video clips of the incident emerged on social media showing a large number of police personnel and lawyers in confrontation in the courtroom.

A lawyer was also seen with a head wound in an alleged photo.