Lawyers clashed with police at a court in Ghaziabad after an argument with a judge and set fire to the facility

Lawyers and police officers armed with batons broke out in a fight in the courtroom in… Ghaziabad on Tuesday after a judge called in forces to remove a group of protesting lawyers raising slogans against him over a disagreement.

Some lawyers claimed they were injured when police officers used batons on them, and police officers claimed that agitating supporters set fire to a local police station.

Riot broke out around 11 am in the district and sessions court complex located in Raj Nagar area after a heated argument between a lawyer and a judge over the hearing of an anticipatory bail petition.

Dramatic scenes of the courtroom clash appeared on social media. In one such video, some police officers can be seen swinging batons, and one of them even wielded a wooden chair and gestured as if he wanted to hit the lawyers.

Ghaziabad Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra told PTI that a group of lawyers “tried to put pressure” on the district judge while hearing the bail application and “tried to attack him”.

Requesting anonymity, a lawyer told PTI that a group of lawyers had demanded that district judge and adjudicating judge Anil Kumar should hear the anticipatory bail case first, which he denied and said the case would be heard as per the list.

“In this case, a group of lawyers raised slogans against the district judge. The case took a nasty turn when the court proceedings were interrupted and the judge called the police. The police entered the courtroom and laid charges, as a result of which several lawyers were injured, he said.

Meanwhile, former Bar Association president Nahar Singh Yadav has sent a complaint regarding the incident to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.

He alleged that advocates Jitendra Singh and Abhishek Yadav, who had approached the court to oppose the anticipatory bail application, urged the district judge to hear arguments on priority or transfer the case due to the crowded courtroom.

Yadav alleged that the district judge lost his temper and started abusing the lawyers.

He added that the judge then called the police and personnel led by DCP (urban zone) Rajesh Kumar Singh and ACP (Kavinagar) Abhishek Srivastava reached the spot and used baton charge, in which a dozen lawyers were injured.

He also demanded that CCTV footage from the courtroom be preserved. The complaint was signed by eight lawyers.

Commissioner of Police Mishra told PTI that supporters of Nahar Singh Yadav (former president of the Bar Association and Samajwadi Party leader), Abhishek Yadav, Aurangzeb Khan and Bilal Ahmed along with other defense lawyers tried to put pressure on the district judge during the hearing and attempted to attack him.

“Police intervened appropriately and dispersed them using mild force. Meanwhile, a group of agitating supporters set fire to the police chowki,” he added.

Earlier, alleged videos of the incident appeared on social media, showing a large number of police officers and lawyers during a confrontation in the courtroom.

The alleged photo also shows a lawyer with a head wound.