Former Dist Bar Assn chief held

A former president of the District Bar Association, Ravinder Singh Bassi, was arrested by the UT police today, nearly a month after he was booked for allegedly misbehaving and making casteist remarks against a woman lawyer in the parking lot of the district courts, Sector 43.

The woman lawyer had complained that on October 7, she, along with her colleague, had gone to pick her scooter from the parking lot when Ravinder and another lawyer allegedly started misbehaving with her.

In the meantime, advocate Neeraj Hans (41) arrived there and tried to intervene, following which he was allegedly punched in the chest. Hans died a few hours after the incident.

Three FIRs were filled in connection with the incident. An FIR was registered against Ravinder and two others for culpable homicide not amounting to murder on a complaint filed by Neeraj’s brother Hardeep Hans. Another one was filed against Ravinder, on a complaint by the woman lawyer, under Sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 315 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS. Later, Section 3 of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was added to it.

On the basis of Ravinder’s complaint, a case was also registered against the woman lawyer and her colleagues for hurting religious sentiments and voluntarily causing hurt.