Allahabad High Court orders CCTV review after lawyers’ protest

Advocates protested inside the Allahabad High Court on October 28, disrupting proceedings in the courtroom of Justice Ajay Bhanot; the court ordered CCTV footage reviewed to identify those involved and said disciplinary referral or contempt proceedings could follow. The protest came a day after the Allahabad High Court Bar Association alleged that Bhanot had threatened to send a lawyer to jail and required him to apologise to a police superintendent. The association’s account has not been independently established in the reports. It said the exchange began when the lawyer objected to the officer sitting in a row usually reserved for advocates. According to the association’s communication to Chief Justice Arun Bhansali, an additional government advocate rebuked the lawyer and said he would raise the matter with the judge. The association alleged that Bhanot then pointed at the lawyer and ordered that he be sent to jail. After the lawyer sought forgiveness, the judge allegedly directed him to apologise to the police officer. The association also alleged that Bhanot ridiculed senior counsel V. P. Srivastava. On October 28, advocates gathered outside and inside Bhanot’s courtroom,...