Monitor probe against lawyers: HC

LUCKNOW: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Tuesday directed IG Sitapur zone to monitor a police probe against lawyers accused of misbehaving with SP Sitapur and assaulting his two staff personnel on the court premises.

The monitoring will be done on a day-to-day basis. The incident took place on October 31. The court also directed that the probe be transferred to another police circle of Sitapur for a fresh probe by a deputy superintendent of police.

Passing the order, a special bench of Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan also restrained Sitapur police from conducting raids at the residences of the accused lawyers between dusk and dawn. Further, HC said, a chief judicial magistrate and an additional district magistrate will visit the jail twice a week to ensure that the two lawyers in custody get treatment and facilitates as per the jail manual.

HC has asked Sitapur police to explain why dacoity charges were levelled against the accused when a mobile phone allegedly snatched by them during the incident was later recovered. HC fixed November 12 for next hearing.

The HC order came on two petitions filed by the president, vice-president and other office bearers of the Sitapur Bar Association.

On the petitioners' request, the Allahabad high court chief justice had constituted a special bench during Diwali vacations.

The bench observed, "in an incident like the present one, the partisan attitude and approach of the investigating agency cannot be ruled out."

The bench directed the state counsel to apprise principal secretary home, DIG concerned, district magistrate and SP Sitapur Prabhakar Chaudhary for immediate compliance of the order.

In an FIR lodged on October 31, Chaudhary's PRO had alleged that lawyers had roughed him when he had accompanied Chaudhary to Sitapur district court for a meeting. The PRO had further alleged that the accused lawyers had misbehaved with SP Sitapur and even snatched his mobile.

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