JNUSU President was beaten up: Supreme Court panel

New Delhi: The six-member panel of Supreme Court appointed lawyers have blamed inaction by Delhi Police for the violence witnessed in the Patiala Court on February 15 and 17. In its report which was released on Wednesday, the committee also mentioned that they were abused in filthy language and pelted with flower pots, pebbles and water bottles.

It was also informed that lawyers and journalists were locked inside the court room. It said the accused, Kanhaiya Kumar, was badly beaten up by lawyers and journalists were bashed up and the police failed to maintain law and order.

It said, “The atmosphere outside was surcharged and intimidating. Abuses were hurled at Mr. Kapil Sibal and all other committee members. There was an effort create an atmosphere of fear and terror. The upbeat mood of the crowd in lawyers’ dress who were continuously shouting slogans and abuses to present a terrorising atmosphere was clearly visible.”

But for the security ring provided by the officers of the Supreme Court security police it would not have been possible for the committee members to come out unscathed.

Though there was a large number of police personnel deployed, they could not contain other lawyers present in large numbers to intimidate one and all.

It said two persons brazenly went inside the court room where the accused was kept and assaulted him and police did not apprehend them.

The report wanted responsibility to be fixed against policemen who were present and were aware of the apex court direction to ensure safety of the accused.

However, the police in its report denied that accused was assaulted in the court room. Justi-fying the inaction, the police said past experiences had clearly shown that the police has always been at the receiving end and has been castigated for either excessive use of force or for not exercising enough restraint in the tackling of lawyers in court promises.

It has also been seen that mostly innocent lawyers face ‘flipside’ of any action and the unruly ones manage to go scot free. Hence, the police personnel deployed in the court premises were asked to exercise restraint till the situation warranted retributive action.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has been moved on Wednesday for a probe by an SIT into the contents of a sting operation conducted by two TV channels exposing the role of three lawyers in the assault of Kanhaiya Kumar

Adv. Kamini Jiswal, through her advocate Prashant Bhushan has filed this writ petition which also seeks initiation of contempt of court proceedings against three lawyers, Vikram Singh Chouhan, Yashpal Singh and O.P. Sharma.