Taking a serious view of the violence in Lucknow yesterday when advocates had clashed with police personnel, the Allahabad High Court today sought a report from Uttar Pradesh government on the matter. The court also banned the entry "inside any of the courts across the state" of a lawyer whose pictures wherein he was shown carrying a pistol during the agitation, has been published in newspapers.
The order was passed by a special seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which has been reviewing security arrangements at courts across UP for the past one year.
The bench directed the Principal Secretary (Home) to submit a report on February 18, carrying details of CCTV footages and explaining the circumstances under which police were allowed to enter the court premises where lawyers had gone on the rampage in protest against the murder of a fellow advocate earlier this week.
The bench also took a serious note of the pictures that appeared in newspapers today in which one of the protesting lawyers was shown moving with a pistol in his hand.
On being told that the advocate's name was Vishal Dixit, the court promptly ordered that his entry inside any of the courts across the state be banned.
Meanwhile, advocates of the High Court here refrained from judicial work after lunch following a call to this effect given by High Court Bar Association president R K Ojha.
A statement issued by the UP Bar Council announced that lawyers across the state will boycott judicial work on Monday, February 15, "in protest against police atrocities against advocates in Lucknow".
