Tis Hazari court clash: Delhi HC extends time till Dec 31 to complete probe

Delhi High Court on Monday extended till December 31, 2020 the time granted to a court-appointed commission to probe into the clash between Delhi Police personnel and lawyers at the Tis Hazari court complex in November last year. The initial time granted to complete the probe ended on May 31, however, more time to probe the matter was sought in view of the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel extended the time granted to the judicial commission to probe the violence. Meanwhile, the court was told that statements of 124 witnesses have been recorded in the matter till date.

Lawyers had sought disciplinary actions and initiation of departmental inquiry against several IPS and senior police officers for circulating provocative statements against lawyers on social media. They also demanded the dismissal of several cops on the grounds that the agitation was in complete contravention of prevalent laws.

Earlier, The Delhi High Court had taken suo moto cognizance of the incident and constituted a judicial committee to conduct an inquiry in the matter. 

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The clashes between Delhi police and lawyers

The origin of the dispute was a fight over a parking spot. On November 3, the Delhi High Court ordered a judicial inquiry by a retired High Court judge into this incident. However, the impasse continued and Republic TV accessed a shocking video in which a lawyer can be seen assaulting a policeman outside the main gate of the Saket court in the national capital. 

Thereafter, hundreds of police officials staged a protest at the Police Headquarters in Delhi. After the police approached the Delhi HC seeking a clarification on its original order, the latter advocated mediation between the “responsible” representatives of the lawyers and the police. Moreover, the court made it clear that its direction of not taking any coercive action against the advocates was only applicable to the FIRs relating to the Tis Hazari court incident.  

In January 2020, PTI sources revealed that the Delhi police had identified a woman lawyer who was the first person to spark off the clashes. Reportedly, she torched the motorcycle of a policeman. According to sources, the police identified the lawyer with the help of multiple CCTV cameras.  

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(Image credits: ANI)