BCI warns lawyers against violence & vandalism, promises strict action

In a press release issued by the Bar Council of India (BCI) on Tuesday, it was announced that strict action would be taken against the lawyers who indulged in vandalism and acts of violence. The chairman of BCI, Manan Kumar Mishra, communicated this in a letter to the presidents and secretaries of all the Bar associations of Delhi. The BCI also asked the associations to send the details of the advocates who were allegedly involved in violence on November 4.  

Read: Tis Hazari Violence Escalates As Police And Lawyers Clash

‘These are acts of grave misconduct'

The BCI, in its letter, termed the incidents of assault on policemen and the common man as “acts of grave misconduct”. Maintaining that violence had no place in this profession, the BCI called for an immediate end to it.  Mishra reckoned that such “rowdy” elements besmirched the name of the institution.  

Read: Tis Hazari: Police Officials, Lawyers File FIRs Against Each Other

Mishra wrote in the letter, “These incidents of beating the policeman on bike by some of the Saket lawyers, assault of an auto driver, manhandling general public (which are being highlighted in news and media) are most unfortunate and Bar Council of India is not going to tolerate it. These are acts of grave misconduct.” He added, “Even in Tis Hazari Court Campus on November 4, untoward incidents of violence are being reported. Most unfortunate! Hooliganism and violence has no place in the bar. The leaders will have to stop it immediately. It’s my earnest and humble request. Kindly identify those advocates (if they are advocates in real sense) and send their names and other details by tomorrow to the office of Bar Council of India. We are tarnishing the image of the institution by sparing such rowdy elements. Our inaction and tolerance encourages them and ultimately results in contempt proceedings by the High Courts or Supreme Court.”  

Read: Tis Hazari: Lawyers Abstain From Work; Seek Cops' Arrest, Compensation

Police-advocates clash 

The tussle between the lawyers and the police in Delhi has been going on since the clashes outside the Tis Hazari court on November 2 when a dispute broke out over a parking spot. On November 3, the Delhi High Court ordered a judicial inquiry by a retired High Court judge into the clashes between the police and lawyers outside the Tis Hazari court. The inquiry will be completed within 6 weeks. Meanwhile, Republic accessed a shocking video on Monday in which a lawyer can be seen assaulting a policeman outside the Saket court in Delhi. The cop does not respond and simply drives away from the spot. Sources reveal that this incident happened right outside the main gate of the Saket court. 

Read: Tis Hazari Violence: Victim Speaks Out; WATCH HERE