Lawyers to take agitation to state level, docs put their stir on hold

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 2

Despite strenuous efforts by the Police Department, the lawyers-doctors dispute failed to end here today.

While the lawyers, taking the fight to the next level, had announced “no-working day” in Punjab on Friday and to continue their agitation at the district level, the doctors have, presently, held up their plan to hold a protest.

Meanwhile, more trouble brew up for the advocate community as nurses have decided to approach the National Women Commission and Ministry of Health.

Earlier in the day, around 200 lawyers held a protest outside the Jalandhar Police Commissioner Arpit Shukla’s office and accused the police of being in connivance with Dr BS Johal.

Meanwhile, former District Bar president Mandeep Singh Sachdev landed in soup after he made derogatory comments against the nurses’ community in his speech, which resulted in another controversy here.

The nurses’ community has announced to burn his effigy along with the incumbent bar president Baldev Prakash Ralh on Friday. Also, they would write to the Punjab Women Commission and the National Women Commission and will send a written complaint to the Ministry of Health against the lawyer. The nurses have demanded the cancellation of his bar licence for making derogatory remarks against the women.

However, later assessing the gravity of the situation, Sachdev sought a written apology from the nurses.

Advocate fraternity backed Minhas, said done nothing wrong by posting live video on the Facebook.

Addressing a press conference, District Bar president Baldev Prakash Ralh said advocate Kulbir Minhas had done nothing wrong in posting the live video of the hospital on the Facebook. “It is a public place and any one can post video if found something wrong,” said Ralh. He also added that Police Commissioner Arpit Shukla had sought five days’ time to delay the matter ‘intentionally’. He also demanded the scrapping of the cross FIR registered against advocate Minhas under Section 294 of the IPC from doing obscene act and to add non-bailable offences under Section 382, 384 and 379B of the IPC. These Sections relate to extortion, snatching and theft charges against an individual.

It is breach of patients’ secrecy, say doctors

Condemning the video made by advocate Minhas, Dr Navjot Dhaiya, while addressing a press conference, said that making a live video inside a private hospital and posting it on a social site is a breach of patients’ secrecy. “It seemed that the advocates do nt trust their own judiciary and that is why they are sitting on streets. Once the police have registered an FIR, why are they worried? Let the case be decided in the court of law,” said Dhaiya.

Shukla, meanwhile, offered the case to be shifted out of district, lawyers refused.

When asked by Police Commissioner Arpit Shukla that if the advocates wanted, he could get the case transferred outside, the lawyers delegation, headed by their president Ralh, refused to do so and said they had complete faith in him. However, they urged the Commissioner to speed up the investigating into the matter.

When asked by the commissioner to end the agitation, the lawyers refused and first demanded the scrapping of the cross FIR against advocate Minhas and also the inclusion of the non-bailable offences against Dr BS Johal.

Lawyers term Dr Johal extortionist, police his agent

During a one-and-a half hour demonstration held by lawyers outside the Police Commissioner’ office, the lawyers termed Dr BS Johal an extortionist and a black mailer. They also accused him of working in connivance with police officials. Some lawyers also recited poems, condemning the police for working as Dr Johal’s agent in medico-legal cases. Some had even said that police stations were being run by politicians and so the country was not safe for the general people to live.