No 'black coat' for lawyers outside court premises: Allahabad HC

Lucknow: In a significant judgement aimed at preventing lawyers from intervening in private land disputes and siding with land mafias while donning their uniform, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council to make guidelines to ensure that lawyers do not wear the black coat outside the court premises.

A division bench comprising Justices Sangeeta Chandra and Narendra Kumar Johari gave the direction while hearing a petition filed by a local lawyer Subhanshu Singh who had alleged that some lawyers had assaulted him in the Civil Court premises in Lucknow in September this year and sought investigation into the matter by an independent investigative agency.

The court said that several cases were being filed alleging that advocates in uniform intervened in private property disputes and assisted land mafia in grabbing property of the citizens.

''They (advocates) usually go to the spot in uniforms.....the Bar Council of UP issues guidelines that the advocates should avoid wearing uniforms when outside the court premises,'' it said.

The petitioner had sought a direction to the government to have the CBI or any other independent investigative agency take over the investigation and prosecution with respect to his complaint of assault by some lawyers.

He had also approached the District Judge, Lucknow to ensure the preservation of the CCTV footage of the corridor of the multistorey Civil Court Building. The court sought the comment with regard to the steps taken in pursuance of the letter sent by the petitioner to preserve the CCTV footage. 

The petitioner also alleged that he had been constantly threatened by the private respondents, who were all anti-social elements against some of whom history sheets have been drawn up by the police.