On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Etah to conduct an inquiry into the incident of assault of a lawyer by the Uttar Pradesh police and to submit a report regarding the same.
The divisional bench comprising of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh took suo moto cognizance of the incident of physical assault by the UP police on a lawyer in Etah.
“We deem it appropriate to have a complete report of the incident through Chief Judicial Magistrate, Etah. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Etah is directed to make a necessary inquiry by availing all relevant facts including audiovisual electronic documents and submit to this Court on or before the next date of listing. The District Magistrate, Etah as well as Senior Superintendent of Police, Etah are directed to co-operate with the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Etah and they shall supply all relevant facts and documents as desired by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Etah to furnish a report of the incident to this Court,” stated the bench in its order.
Further, the court also directed that the accused should be in custody till the next hearing which has been scheduled for 8 January 2021.
The Incident
The Uttar Pradesh Police had broken the door of advocate Rajendra Sharma’s house in Etah and dragged him out in his advocate’s dress and assaulted him. The video of the incident had gone viral on social media leading to widespread condemnation of the brutality and misbehavior.
Earlier, the Bar Council of India wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court seeking strict action against the police guilty in the brutal attack on an Etah advocate and his family.
BCI stated in its letter, “The UP police have crossed all limits of atrocities and similar incidents were witnessed in West Bengal, Bihar and from other parts of the country. Such action of the police is rather worse than the crime committed by any hardened criminal.”
“The act of police of Uttar Pradesh is shocking, it cannot be expected from the protectors of Law and Order. The brutality clearly shows that the police personnel of Etah was acting with some planning with some ulterior motive,” said a press release from BCI.
“The Council, thus, resolves to request Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court to take immediate steps to find out the guilty police personnel and issue a direction to the UP government to immediately put them under suspension, transfer them and remove them from service,” it further stated.
Alleging that the police personnel was acting with some ‘ulterior motive’, BCI had cautioned that if such incidents of brutality are ignored by the judiciary and the government, the ‘Bar will have no option except to come on roads’.
