AAP lawyers will protest at their own peril: Delhi High Court warns

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday warned of severe action if any protest is held in any courts of the national capital, ahead of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legal cell's call for protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate.The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora questioned how protests can be held in court premises."Consequences are very severe for organising a protest in court," Justice Manmohan said after a lawyer made a mention about his complaint against the call given by AAP legal cell..The lawyer said he had e-mailed a complaint against the protest call at midnight and sought hearing of the matter.While the Court said it may hear the matter tomorrow, it also issued a warning to the lawyers intending to protest inside the court premises."There will be serious consequences. The law laid down by Supreme Court will be applied. Court can’t be withheld. Court can’t be stopped," Justice Manmohan said.The Court added that litigants cannot be prevented from entering the courts."You cannot take away someone's fundamental right to approach court, that is the settled law. If someone does it, he will it at their own peril and we will take action if required," the acting CJ said. .The AAP legal cell has called for a protest today and asked the lawyers to gather in all the district courts at around 12:30 PM today to protest Kejriwal’s arrest..Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India has requested the legal fraternity not to protest in the courts..Taking into account several media reports, the BCI Chairman and Senior Advocate Manan Kumar Mishra in press release stated,"I earnestly appeal to my esteemed colleagues in the legal fraternity of Delhi to resist the temptation of engaging in unwarranted agitation or succumbing to divisive politics. Let us uphold the integrity and dignity of our noble profession, refraining from any movement until a competent court unequivocally establishes Shri Arvind Kejriwal's innocence or declares his arrest unjust or unlawful."