[Etah Advocate Assault Case] Allahabad High Court denies requests made by Bar Council seeking probe by independent agency

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday refused to give in to the requests made by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh for investigation by an independent agency into the Etah advocate assault case..In this regard, the Bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery thus observed,"We are not inclined to grant any such relief as the victim or the persons aggrieved may avail appropriate remedy in this regard before the appropriate Court in appropriate proceedings.".After having gone through the report submitted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Etah and the other material available on record, the Bench framed the following issues for consideration:Whether a police team is having any authority to use unlawfulforce while arresting a person who has been assigned for taking law inhands when police tried to arrest him?Can the police be used as an agency to dispossess a person frompossession of an immovable property or to restore possession of aproperty with a person on having a report with allegation of unlawfulpossession or unlawful dispossession of such person from such property?Whether the administrative authorities including the police authorities are well within their rights to get a person evicted from the premises against whom a decree has been granted by a competent Court, without there being any order in execution proceedings by executing Court?Whether the Advocates Act, 1961 extends any privilege to an advocate for being not taken any coercive action by the police against him, if he is in prescribed robes?.The matter will now be heard on February 2, when the parties will address the Court on the issues mentioned above..Last month, the Court had had taken suo motu cognizance of the assault on the lawyer by the Uttar Pradesh Police and directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Etah to conduct an inquiry and submit a report regarding the incident..In December, the UP Police had broken down the door of Advocate Rajendra Sharma's house in Etah, dragged him out, and assaulted him while he was in his advocate's robes. The video of the assault had gone viral on social media, leading to widespread condemnation of the incident..The Bar Council of India (BCI) wrote to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Govind Mathur requesting them to take immediate steps against the police personnel who assaulted the lawyer..The Supreme Court Bar Association had also released a statement condemning the police action against the lawyer..[Read Order]