[Rohini Court shootout] District Bar Associations call for boycott of work citing lapse in security

The Coordination Committee of all District Bar Associations has called for boycotting court work, both physical and virtual, on September 25 in the light of the shootout that took place inside Rohini Court premises on Friday. .Three people including alleged gangster Jitender Gogi were reportedly killed inside a courtroom at the Rohini Court Complex premises on Friday..Speaking to Bar and Bench, Committee Vice-Chairman and President of the New Delhi (Patiala House Courts) Bar Association, RK Wadhwa said, .“The security arrangement in courts is an absolute failure. How can a person take a weapon inside court? Entering inside the premises and entering inside the courtroom? We strongly condemn it and have decided to meet the Chief Justice (of the Delhi High Court) and Commissioner of Delhi Police to provide adequate security for litigants and lawyers as it is a total failure on part of the security.”.The Committee has requested all its members to cooperate and abstain from work..Keeping in mind the way in which the crime was carried out and given that the assailants pretended to be lawyers, Wadhwa underscored that soon the Committee would have deliberations on checking of ID proofs..“When we enter the High Court, we show our IDs and only then we are allowed. What stopped them from following the same process in the district courts?” asked Wadhwa..The Committee is likely to hold a meeting on the issue in a few days and arrive at a plausible resolution..Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa termed the incident as "extremely shocking" pointing out that Courts were presumed to be high-security zones. ."The assailants were allegedly dressed like lawyers and could even carry guns into the courtroom. This incident happened in the presence of policemen with automatic weapons," he remarked..The senior lawyer stressed said it was "high time" that the security in district courts was strengthened by way of frisking people at the entry gates like in the higher courts. ."These kind of incidents give a bad name to the judicial system. It also speak volumes about the lackadaisical approach of the security agencies towards the court complexes. These incidents are rampant and require immediate action. The Bar, Judiciary and the Security Agencies should work in tandem to fix this problem," suggested Pahwa..The New Delhi Bar Association, in a circular issued on Friday, stated that the legal fraternity was shocked on witnessing such a serious security lapse..Advocate Manoj Taneja told Bar & Bench, "The photos / video of incident showing dead persons was also very scary for all concerned who were there and also for all people who keep coming to court to attend court proceedings. It was completely like a movie scene. The entire security needs, at all the courts in Delhi, merits to be checked again and strictly enhanced to stop such serious and barbaric incidents.".[Read Resolution].Shootout in Delhi's Rohini court leaves gangster Jitender Gogi, two others dead