More than a hundred Supreme Court lawyers have been detained by police after taking to the streets in support of the movement in Delhi demanding the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar. Women lawyers are among them. The Supreme Court Bar Association has expressed deep concern over the alleged conduct of police towards them and the alleged use of excessive force, and has sought the chief justice’s intervention to secure the lawyers’ immediate release and safety.
According to reports received on Saturday, Delhi police detained the lawyers on their way to Jantar Mantar. They are understood to have been taken to the Yamuna Sports Complex and held there.
The bar association said it was concerned by allegations that police used excessive force on senior and young lawyers taking part in a peaceful protest. It questioned in particular the conduct of police towards women lawyers. The association has also passed a resolution on the matter.
Seeking the chief justice’s intervention, it demanded that the whereabouts of every detained lawyer be disclosed immediately, that their safety be ensured and that lawyers in custody be given access to the legal assistance they need. It also called for the swift release of the lawyers who took part in the peaceful movement.
One of the detained lawyers, Sumita Hazarika, alleged that unidentified police personnel harassed several women lawyers, who were then put in a prison van and taken away. The lawyers say they were treated in this way while going to take part in a peaceful protest.
Citing a source, it has been claimed that Chief Justice Surya Kant has intervened and directed Delhi police to release the detained lawyers. But no formal statement had come from the chief justice’s office by Saturday afternoon, so the report of a direction could not be independently confirmed.
Security has been tightened in Delhi over the protest programme of the civil rights organisation the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The participation of a section of Supreme Court lawyers in support of the movement, and their detention, has stirred fresh controversy.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report