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On August 29 at Hapur, police allegedly lathi-charged protesting lawyers who were opposing the case filed against a female advocate and her father a week earlier. This was followed by several strikes called out by various Bar Associations across the State
The Allahabad High Court has formed a committee to address the grievances raised by the lawyers in Uttar Pradesh following the incident of alleged Police violence on lawyers at Hapur on August 29, 2023.
The bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi passed the order in an application moved by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh through its Secretary with the prayer to issue suitable directions in respect of the grievances/issues referred to in the application dated September 9, 2023 to be placed before the Special Committee to be constituted by the Chief Justice in the light of the judgment dated April 20, 2023, passed in M.A. No.859 of 2020 In re: SLP (C) No.5440 of 2020 (District Bar Association Dehradun vs. Ishwar Shandilya & Ors.) and for any other order which the high court may deem fit and appropriate
After taking note of the grievances raised in the application dated September 9, 2023, the division bench said that it deemed appropriate to refer the application to the Committee chaired by Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and consisting of Justice Rajan Roy, Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan, Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh or his nominee, Chairman, Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh and President, High Court Bar Association.
Moreover, the bench directed the SIT, already constituted by the State Government to look into the incident, to also intimate about the action taken on the first information reports lodged by the Lawyers in respect of the incident, while submitting its interim report, as previously directed.
The matter will be next heard on September 15, 2023.
The Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh had filed the application in the suo motu PIL initiated by the high court over the alleged police violence incident.
In the PIL, on September 4, the high court had directed the State Government to include Hari Nath Pandey, Retd. Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow as a member in the SIT constituted by the State.
Moreover, the court had also ordered the Superintendent of Police, Hapur to ensure that the complaint lodged by the advocates of the incident is also duly registered and investigated as per law.
The order was passed after Ashok Singh, President, High Court Bar Association had submitted that the State's action in the incident was wholly one-sided and despite the best efforts of the lawyers, their FIR has not been lodged till date.
He had then claimed that if the SIT, as it was at then, was allowed to proceed it would have caused great injustice to lawyers because the guilty police personnel would have been the judge in their own cause.
Case Title: In Re v. State of UP
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