Army officer alleges assault by advocate on court premises

An Army officer has alleged an assault on him by a Jalandhar-based lawyer in a district court during the proceedings of an ongoing case.

A complaint regarding this has been submitted by the officer to Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The complainant, Lt-Col Ramandeep Singh, alleged that on October 8, 2025 (at approximately 1630 hours), while he was submitting an application in the court for an expeditious trial in an ongoing case, Advocate Sanjeev Bansal, “physically intercepted and interjected”. The complainant alleged that when objected to, the advocate allegedly “violently held him (Lt-Col Ramandeep Singh) by the neck and attempted to strangulate him in full public view”.

The complainant also alleged that immediately thereafter, the advocate’s son, Anuj Bansal, also joined his father in the assault, grabbing the complainant by the collar and further strangulating him, causing visible abrasions on the neck and chest. In his complaint, Lt-Col Ramandeep Singh alleged that the assault occurred in the immediate view of the Presiding officer, Ram Pal, Judicial Magistrate, First Class.

The copy of the complaint has been marked to Nirbhow Singh Gill, District and Sessions Judge, Jalandhar; Dr Sushil Bodh, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jalandhar; the Bar Council of India, Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana and the Bar Association of Jalandhar.

The Army officer has sought initiation of a high-level judicial inquiry into the incident by the Chief Justice and directions ensuring safety of litigants, particularly serving defence personnel under trial.

The lawyer against whom the complaint has been filed in turn termed it false and denied any assault.

Notably, Lt Col Ramandeep Singh is presently facing trial (Case No. CHI/742/2022) in a dowry case — filed by his wife Rashim Mahajan, at Delhi Cantt police station. Subsequently, another FIR under Sections 498-A and 406 of the IPC was registered against the complainant in September 2021 at the Women’s Cell police station, Jalandhar.

In his complaint, the Lt-Col alleged that the incident was “an act of grave professional misconduct and physical assault perpetrated by advocates Sanjeev Bansal and Anuj Bansal inside the courtroom of the Judicial Magistrate Ram Pal”.

Speaking to The Tribune, advocate Sanjeev Bansal said, “The officer in question is in a dispute with his wife. He doesn’t want me to represent her. Several litigations against him are pending in Jalandhar, I’m representing all of which. Annoyed at this, he has been creating ugly scenes.”

Bansal further said, “He also filed a false complaint against me a month ago to the state bar council - for which I furnished a reply and it was dismissed. In the October 8 complaint issue, it was he (Ramandeep) who crossed over to the lawyer's dais and used abusive language against me. I ignored him. But later, he threatened me again. His complaint is absolutely false.”