200 lawyers booked for vandalising Ghaziabad court complex

A day after agitating lawyers vandalised a police post at Ghaziabad court complex, a case was registered against nearly 200 unidentified advocates today for rioting and damaging public property.

Hundreds of lawyers had gathered at the court complex to demand action against four policemen for allegedly misbehaving with Ghaziabad Bar Association's former secretary Shashi Tyagi at a police station on April 13.

The protest turned violent when the lawyers started vandalising tables and chairs kept at a police post on the premises of the courts complex. Angry lawyers also broke a door metal detector.

An FIR has been registered at Kavinagar police station here, police said, adding that they are scanning video footages of CCTV cameras installed at the court complex to identify the accused lawyers.

"We have booked as many as 200 unidentified lawyers under Sections 147 (rioting), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC," Station House Officer of Kavinagar police station, Arun Kumar said.

Sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or upwards) of the IPC have also been imposed on the lawyers, he added.

Meanwhile, Ghaziabad Bar Association has slammed the district police for registering an FIR against the lawyers.

"We had yesterday filed a complaint against SSP Saphi Ghildiyar with the Election Commission for failing to provide justice to lawyers on the issue.

 We had also demanded her removal from the district and because to this, police have registered an FIR against lawyers," the association's president Anil Pandit alleged.