 "JNU row: Attack on Kanhaiya Kumar unravels dark history of lawyer-led 'goondaism'")
The assault on Kanhaiya Kumar, head of the student union at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), by a bunch of lawyers on the Patiala House Court campus on Wednesday has sparked yet another debate about the conduct of the men in black.
The latest incident follows on the heels of a similar incident of violence on the same court campus on Monday when about 100 advocates thrashed JNU faculty members on students who had come to attend the proceedings.
The two back-to-back incidents forced the Supreme Court to advise lawyers to exercise "moderation" instead of taking "extreme positions" in dealing with the situation arising from the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and charging him with sedition.
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This is not the first time lawyers in India have been caught behaving badly; there have been notable instances in the past when the men in black robe freely indulged in acts of violence, damaging the reputation of the advocate community.
In May 2007, a group of lawyers in the Agra civil court tied a young Dalit man to a tree, tonsured him and took turns to beat him up. A few of them even spat on him. They allegedly meted out this punishment to 22-year-old Vinod Kumar for his alleged threats to a lawyer.
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Similary, in March 2012, a group of junior lawyers ran amok, attacking journalists and policemen at the city civil court complex in Bangalore when mining baron G Janardhana Reddy was brought in for a hearing. Reddy was arrested by the CBI for illegal mining and corruption. At least 30 people, including a dozen police personnel and 15 journalists, were wounded in the ensuing violence.
In April 2012, the Supreme Court had criticised the Andhra Pradesh government for failing to prevent Telangana-related violence in the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2010, observing that “sheer goondaism” (hooliganism) in the courtroom “could have killed the judge”. Lawyers had been at the forefront of the Telangana agitation, disrupting proceedings in the high court several times during the statehood movement since November 2009.
Responding to the recent stunts by the lawyers, a team of senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal and Rajeev Dhawan, set up by the Supreme Court to report to it on the situation in the Patiala House court said there was "complete breakdown of law and order" and an atmosphere of "fear and terror" prevailed there and the police did not act against the culprits.
"There is a serious threat to the life and safety of the accused (Kanhaiya) and this police will be unable to save him," the team of lawyers said giving an oral ground report to the apex court.
They said they too bore the brunt of the people in lawyers' robes who gave them "the choicest of the abuses and tried to hurt them by throwing sharp-edged flower pots and water bottles".