On Thursday (March 21), the Supreme Court initiated a suo motu case concerning the assaults on Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia and Advocate Muskan Gupta at the District Court, Gautam Budh Nagar, by lawyers during a strike.
Today (March 21), Senior Advocate Mr. Vikas Singh urgently raised the issue of the manhandling and mistreatment of Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia by junior lawyers during a local lawyers’ strike at the District Court of Gautam Budh Nagar. This mention was made jointly with Attorney General Mr. R. Venkataramani and Senior Advocates Mr. K.K. Venugopal and Mr. Jayant Bhushan.
The bench, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, was informed that the incident occurred on March 20. A junior lawyer snatched Mr. Bhatia’s band, and Ms. Muskan Gupta, another advocate, was asked to remove her band and leave Courtroom 8 of the District Court complex. She was manhandled by a group of lawyers during this incident.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) passed a resolution yesterday, condemning such behavior. The counsel for the Bar Council of India (BCI) also informed the bench that the BCI is taking cognizance of the incident. Both Mr. Bhatia and Ms. Gupta were physically present before the bench today during the mentioning.
The bench took immediate suo-motu cognizance of the matter and issued notice to the President and Secretary of the Janpath Diwani Bar Association, Gautam Budh Nagar. In his order, the CJI directed the following: (1) The District Judge (DJ) of Gautam Budh Nagar to ensure the CCTV footage of the incident is safely preserved pending further orders; (2) The District Judge to submit a report of the incident to the bench; (3) Submission of a report from the administrative staff regarding the manhandling faced by Muskan Gupta in Court 8 of the District Court complex.
