P&H High Court Takes Suo Motu Cognisance Of Violence In Court Premises; Stays Action Against Bar On Complaint Of Lawyer Who Carried Sword

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of a letter written by the Secretary of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), seeking the arrest of a lawyer accused of instigating a 'violent attack' on Bar members within the court premises.

The letter alleges that Advocate Ravneet Kaur instigated Advocate Simranjit Singh Blassi to assault the bar members on September 17. He also brandished a sword inside the High Court premises.

It is also alleged that Kaur posted sexually explicit and defamatory content against the Secretary on social media, prompting the Court to initiate action on its own motion.

During the hearing, UT Senior Standing Counsel Amit Jhanji informed the Court that a DDR has been registered at the behest of Blassi, alleging that a mob of 100 unnamed lawyers attacked him.

HCBA President Sartej Narula apprehended that 'they will keep on adding names of lawyers' in the DDR.

Division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry thus directed that "no action shall be taken against any member of the Bar under the unnamed DDR, till the proceedings are pending." 

The bench also impleaded UT administration and Chandigarh DGP as parties and directed them to file a reply.

With regard to the social media content, UT counsel  said that the social media platforms namely Youtube, Facebbok would have to be impleaded in the case. As the platforms may not directly abide by any police instruction, he added.

The HCBA Secretary sought direction to register an FIR against Kaur for defamation. He also seeks her arrest in the FIR registered on the violent incident of September 17.

The FIR is lodged under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 109(1) (attempt to murder), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention) BNS.

Gagandeep Jammu wrote to the Chief Justice that Ravneet Kaur was removed from the membership of the Bar Association in 2023. Despite this, she continued to misuse facilities provided by the Bar and made derogatory statements against members of the Bar as well as against the High Court Judges in "an attempt to influence the outcome of cases filed by her."

On 9 September, the Secretary reiterated that Ravneet Kaur has been removed from the Membership of the Association and she could no longer use the facilities of the Bar Association. The same was challenged by way of writ petition and dismissed by the High Court on September 15.

Piqued by the dismissal, she has since posted repeated defamatory, derogatory, insulting, intimidating, and sexually explicit material on social media platforms, including Facebook. A complaint regarding these posts has already been lodged with the police, stated the letter.

However, the Chandigarh Police released Ravneet Kaur citing late hours, and have not arrested her thereafter, the Chief Justice was informed through the letter.