It is a matter of deepest concern that for advocates in Uttar Pradesh which is the most populated State in India with maximum number of pending cases amongst all the States in India and so also what cannot be just glossed over ever is that the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council is the largest Bar Council not just among all the States in India but of the entire world as claimed in the website itself of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh and still on ground we most terribly witnessed that the worst discrimination is perpetrated on the lawyers of Uttar Pradesh in the form of repeated killings of lawyers in one district of Uttar Pradesh or the other due to which lawyers have been protesting since last so many decades and so also we witness repeated life threatening attacks with the worst attack coming from none other than the police personnel themselves in Hapur on August 29, 2023 due to which the lawyers of Uttar Pradesh have been on strike since last so many days expressing full solidarity with the injured lawyers of Hapur and the deadlock still continues till date! My learned and distinguished friend Advocate Mr Ashish Chaurasiya has been really kind and gracious enough to post so many memorable photos of Meerut today in which the lawyers are shown peacefully protesting in discipline and so also marching unitedly in order to get the State machinery take action against the guilty police personnel in Hapur for which I shall always be deeply indebted to him and which I shall treasure always for the rest of my life as it demonstrates that lawyers will not succumb now in front of anyone. Earlier I witnessed huge protests mainly for High Court Bench in West UP which is again most justified, compelling and still Centre turns a Nelson eye to it which I find most incomprehensible! This is definitely a matter of grave concern because if lawyers are attacked so mercilessly for doing their job of defending their clients as “officers of the court” then how will they ever be able to perform their job most fearlessly?
I am truly falling entirely short of words to describe my innermost feelings in words on seeing how most commendably the lawyers are all presenting a most united face cutting across religion, caste, community and sex as is the crying need of the hour also in demanding justice for the so many injured lawyers of Hapur numbering more than 30 who were all lathicharged as if they were lumpen elements and rioters and due to which many suffered serious injuries as a result on August 29, 2023 just outside the court premises which has shocked the entire lawyers fraternity all across the country with even Supreme Court Bar Association and so also Allahabad High Court Bar Association and so also the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh all expressing their uttermost shock, awe and disbelief! It is most horribly disappointing to see that the lawyers of Hapur were all of a sudden most brutally lathicharged by the police after they were returning quietly from a very peaceful demonstration demanding the withdrawal of a fake case against a woman lawyer named Priyanka Tyagi and her father after their vehicle had a slight collision with a vehicle of cop named Mohit and were caught totally unaware and that too right in the court premises outside the chambers of lawyers and even the women lawyers were not spared at all and had to suffer injuries as a result of the ghastly and dastardly attack! But the worst was yet to come and it came when no action of any kind was taken against those who were guilty of using excessive force against the officers of the court that is lawyers which cannot be ever condoned under any circumstances and FIR was also lodged after relentless agitation by lawyers! If lawyers can be treated so shabbily then how will a common person be treated by the police is anyone’s guess! This is truly most terrible and so also is certainly most disappointing!
I really just fail to comprehend and it niggles my mind the most that why is it so conveniently glossed over that it is the lawyers community that always first and foremost steps forward for ensuring that the rights of the most poor, deprived and so also marginalized are protected and even in the independence struggle it was none other than the lawyers who contributed the maximum and still we see no Advocates Protection Act in force in Uttar Pradesh even after more than 77 years of independence! It must be asked: Is the State Government waiting for 100 years i.e. 2047 to enforce it? In States like Rajasthan it has been already implemented but in UP we are yet to see any such most historic step to be initiated by the State Government!
By the way, it must be definitely mentioned here that for the doctors we see that there is law for the protection and safety of doctors we have The Uttar Pradesh Medicare Service Persons And Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention Of Violence And Damage To Property) Act, 2013 [U.P. ACT NO. 16 OF 2013] that came into force on September 26, 2013 but for lawyers even now after nearly ten years we don’t see any such Act forthcoming which shows how the legal rights of lawyers have been held hostage by successive impervious State Governments and it is high time that the ruling dispensation in Uttar Pradesh takes into account the serious threat that always looms large on life of lawyers who are “officers of the court” yet are denied even what must be definitely given due to State’s apathy which certainly cannot be ever justified under any circumstances! In the law for doctors safety in UP as mentioned above we see that there is a provision of three years imprisonment and so also a fine of upto Rs 50,000 for assaulting a doctor or vandalizing a hospital. This crime has also been made non-bailable. Why such law cannot be made for lawyers also who are more vulnerable than even doctors from being attacked by not just the criminals but also from the police as we have witnessed most recently in Hapur!
It must be mentioned here that the Delhi High Court in May 2023 had directed the Delhi government to consider the draft Advocates Protection Bill 2023 and hold a consultation with stakeholders on it. It cannot be kept in abeyance any longer which the UP State Government must realize now and wake up from its deep slumber! The “alarming rise” in the incidents of violence on lawyers cannot be glossed over by any government and it is “high time now” for a decision to be taken for the enactment of an “Advocates Protection Act” to guarantee protection to the fraternity and help overcome the fear that a lawyer has to encounter in every second in his/her life! No denying it!
I must say this with a sense of huge contentment that words cannot be ever adequate to see that the Supreme Court Bar Association and so also we see the Allahabad High Court Bar Association and so also UP Bar Council are all speaking in one and the same voice of standing fully, firmly and finally with the lawyers of Hapur Bar who just recently on August 29, 2023 had been made the brutal and prime target of unprovoked lathicharge by the police which is definitely most condemnable and deserves to be strongly condemned in the most strongest parliamentary language and guilty police personnel must definitely be punished most strictly and sent behind the bars for what they have done is the worst assault on lawyers and on judiciary as lawyers are the officers of the Court constitute the most vital pillar of judiciary and even police personnel cannot ever afford to dare to take them for granted.It must be also certainly mentioned here without fail that while rising up to the occasion, the Supreme Court Bar Association in its resolution SCBA/EC.2023-24/292 dated August 30, 2023 as shared by Hon’ble Dr OP Sharma Sir in advocates group in Meerut has certainly been most unequivocal in observing without mincing any words that, “The Supreme Court Bar Association strongly condemns the inhumane and violent act of police on advocates in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, where the women advocates were also not spared from the brutality. The lathi charge on the advocates, who were protesting peacefully against the alleged high-handedness of the police, is a clear violation of their rights and the rule of law. The Supreme Court Bar Association will not tolerate any attack on the prestige of advocates and in pursuance, demands that the Uttar Pradesh Government shall take immediate steps to:
· Investigate the incident and bring the guilty police officers to justice.
· Censure the police officers responsible for the lathi charge.
· Pay compensation to the injured advocates.
· Take measures to ensure that such incidents do not recur.
· Introduce and implement the Advocates Protection Act for protection of advocates and its families against such brutal incidents.
· Take steps to improve the law and order situation in the State and to ensure that the police personnel are accountable for their actions.
The Supreme Court Bar Association also calls upon the Bar Council of India and all other State Bar Councils to take necessary steps to protect the rights of advocates and to ensure that they are able to discharge their duties without fear of intimidation or harassment.
The Supreme Court Bar Association stands in solidarity with the advocates of Hapur and pledges to do everything in its power to ensure that justice is served.”
In sum, it must be said that “The Advocates Protection Act” must be implemented in big States like Uttar Pradesh at the earliest! Those who dare to attack lawyers must certainly be given exemplary punishment and under no circumstances should be allowed to go away scot free or let off lightly! If lawyers are themselves not safe in our country then who else will be safe? Of course, it is high time and the State Government headed by Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath must definitely act now on this most promptly by implementing “The Advocates Protection Act” by making acts of violence against advocates as non-bailable even for police personnel and so also awarding advocates compensation in money if they are injured as I have mentioned hereinabove in the resolution by none other than the Supreme Court Bar Association itself! This will definitely go a long way in assuaging the hurt feelings of lawyers ever since the Hapur incident has happened and in restoring the faith of the lawyers as a whole that the State Government is totally committed to their safety, welfare and honour which has to be paramount and on which there can be just no compromise of any kind! Sanjeev Sirohi
