Unprecedented, worried for our safety: Rohini judges say protesting lawyers blocked their exit

Lawyers on strike at the Rohini Court allegedly stopped judges from leaving the court on Monday evening, forcing them to stay on the premises even after they had finished their work.

Two judges posted at the Rohini Court confirmed the development to Bar & Bench, adding that the judges' exit was blocked for nearly 40 minutes.

A senior judge said that he had never seen such a situation in over 20 years of his judicial career. 

“This was unprecedented. They blocked the exit of judges. I have never seen it in my career…Yeh to worst experience hain. Kisi ne ye expect nahi kiya tha ki they can go to this extent, more so jab koi grave, collective ya provocative issue tha bhi nahi (This is the worst experience. No one expected that they could go to this extent, given that there was no grave, collective or provocative issue involved),” the judge said on condition of anonymity. 

The gates were blocked at around 4 PM and were opened at around 4:40 PM, the judge said.

Rohini lawyers, along with advocates of all the district courts in Delhi, abstained from work today to demand an inquiry against a district judge accused of misbehaving with a lawyer at the Rohini courts.

A video of the heated exchange between the lawyer and the judge has gone viral on social media. The altercation reportedly began after the judge denied the lawyer’s request for a passover.

The Delhi High Court yesterday attached the judge in the video to the Delhi Judicial Academy.

Another judge posted at Rohini said that the judges were worried about their safety. 

“Everyone was worried about their safety…They [protesting lawyers] were raising slogans and misbehaving with the judges. They said today action has been taken against one judge, you will be the next tomorrow,” the judge said. 

One of the reasons the situation escalated was the decision of some of the judges to pass adverse orders, if required, as lawyers were on strike. 

“Usually, the judges do not pass adverse orders whenever there is a strike. But today, we know that their demands had already been met. So, we said we will pass adverse orders wherever necessary,” the person said. 

The senior judge quoted in the story said that information about the blocking of judges’ exit reached the High Court as well. 

“The High Court said that the police must be informed and action taken. However, the situation was soon resolved,” they said. 

Rohini District Court Bar Association President Rajiv Tehlan told Bar & Bench that there were certain minor issues, which were resolved promptly. 

“Na na aesa kuchh nahi hua hai. Wo thoda sa waisa hua tha aur uske baad wo sab khatam ho gaya…Ek baar kuchh garma garmi hui thi. Roka koi nahi tha. Kayi baar cheezein aggressive ho jaati but wo cheezein immediately over ho gayi thi advocates aur judges ki se (Nothing like this happened. Some small things happened but they got over. Things got heated briefly. We did not stop anybody. Sometimes things get aggressive, but those issues got over soon after a meeting between the advocates and the judges),” Tehlan said. 

He added that the Bar is still involved in dialogue with the Bench and that he expects a positive result soon.