Submit CCTV footage of assault on lawyer: HC to Kolhapur district court admin

Kolhapur: The Bombay high court's Kolhapur bench on Monday directed the Kolhapur district and sessions court administration to submit CCTV footage of an alleged assault on a lawyer by a litigant on March 7 on the district court premises, in a pen drive. The footage is to be submitted by March 11 when the matter is posted for next hearing.The bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar and Justice Pravin Patil was hearing a PIL filed by the Kolhapur district bar association (KDBA) and three other lawyers' bodies seeking police protection and security in and around the district court premises in the wake of the alleged assault that triggered a protest on Monday by lawyers on the district court premises. The protestors demanded arrest of the litigant, who was released by the police after detention.Apart from the KDBA, the Kolhapur High Court Bench Action Committee, the High Court Bar Association Kolhapur Circuit Bench and the Advocate's Association of Western India Kolhapur Bench (Proposed) are the other petitioners. The state chief secretary, the principal secretary to state home department, the director general of police, Kolhapur superintendent of police (SP), Kolhapur district and sessions judge and the inspector in-charge of the Shahupuri police station have been named respondents in the matter.Advocate Swaroop Karade, representing the petitioners, said, "The lawyer, who was attacked, was performing her professional duty and the govt machinery failed to provide apt security to her. As representative bodies of advocates, the petitioners filed the PIL raising issues of serious concern like failure of the State machinery to provide adequate security and protection to advocates within court premises; delayed response in registering FIR and acting against the attackers and the absence of any comprehensive legal framework for protection of advocates in Maharashtra."Kolhapur SP Yogeshkumar Gupta appeared before the bench when the PIL came up for hearing around 4pm on Monday. "The bench directed Gupta to review the security situation in the district court and ensure adequate security to protect the lawyers and other officers of the court," Karade said.The alleged assault took place around 4pm on March 7 when an estranged couple started to quarrel outside the courtroom after the hearing of their ongoing divorce petition. The husband in this divorce matter has hired an advocate, whose lawyer-wife has been handling the matter on his behalf. As the couple was arguing, the lawyer intervened and asked them not to quarrel on the court premises. This infuriated the litigant woman, and she started slapping and abusing the lawyer.