Such ‘Goonda Raj’ not acceptable: Supreme Court on attack on lawyer at Delhi's Tis Hazari

Taking strong exception to alleged attack on a lawyer in a courtroom at the Tis Hazari Court Complex in Delhi on February 7, the Supreme Court on Monday said such ‘Goonda Raj’ was not acceptable to it.

“How can they misbehave like this? This kind of ‘Goonda Raj’ is not acceptable to us,” a Bench led by CJI Surya Kant said after an advocate said he was beaten up in a courtroom at the Tis Hazari Court Complex last Saturday.

The advocate alleged that when he appeared in the court of Additional District Judge Harjeet Singh Pal to represent an accused, the complainant's advocate, along with some goons, assaulted him in front of the judge after locking the courtroom’s door from inside.

“The Judge was sitting right there. All members of the court were there,” the lawyer told the Bench.

“This happened on February 7… Have you brought it to the notice of the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court? Why not make the mention before the head of the Delhi judiciary? You want to mention before me so that the media can catch up?" CJI Kant asked.

As the lawyer said the police were scared of taking any action and that he was mentioning the matter as a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, the Bench asked him to make a written complaint to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice with a copy to the CJI.

“Let me deal with it administratively. Nothing to be done on the judicial side. First you go and make the complaint. Let the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court take cognisance of it,” said the Bench, which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice NV Anjaria.