In the matter concerning the alleged assault on three Delhi-based advocates, including two women lawyers, and their client inside the Lucknow district court premises on July 21, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday barred four advocates from entering any court premises in Lucknow district until August 24, 2026—the next date of hearing.
Event Context
On allegations of land-grabbing, organised misconduct and lawlessness by the accused lawyers, the high court issued comprehensive directions, including a discreet inquiry by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), submission of ten-year income tax returns, complete disclosure of assets, and police security to the victim.
A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla passed the order on a PIL registered by the high court itself. Advocates Abhipsa Mohanty, Komal Agarwal and Ashutosh Shrivastava submitted an application detailing the July 21 incident. The high court later ordered the application to be registered as a public interest litigation.
During the July 21 incident, Mohd Shakir, plaintiff in a civil suit, was allegedly manhandled, dragged to the Central Bar Association office and issued death threats if he continued to pursue his case. Following the assault, an FIR was registered at Wazirganj under Sections 109, 191(2), 115(2), 127(2), and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
Mohd Shakir appeared in person before the high court and broke down while describing how he was allegedly thrashed by advocates Saurabh Kumar Verma, Harshit Pandey, Yash Pandey, Abhay Pratap Verma and their accomplices.
Reports and CCTV footage submitted in sealed covers by the district judge, Lucknow, and the commissioner of police, Lucknow, corroborated the physical assault and identified the four advocates as the primary perpetrators.
The counsel for the applicant informed the bench that advocate Saurabh Kumar Verma carried a firearm during the incident and instructed advocate Abhay Pratap Verma to place it in Shakir’s hands to frame him in a criminal case.
They added that Shakir was illegally detained at the Central Bar Association for hours before being brought to Wazirganj police station.
Government advocate VK Singh presented criminal records showing that Saurabh Kumar Verma is named in eight criminal cases across various police stations in Lucknow involving charges of theft, criminal breach of trust, forgery, rioting, and assault. Advocate Harshit Pandey was also shown to have one criminal case pending against him.
Team Analysis
Examining the CCTV footage and reports, the high court expressed deep concern over the lawlessness inside the district court campus and security lapses.
The bench observed: “In the case at hand, lawyers ran amok freely, abused, humiliated & manhandled a litigant at will, threatened him with dire consequences, as alleged by the applicants and Mohd. Shakir-the informant of the F.I.R.”
“In District Court, Lucknow there are groups of advocates who indulge in property dealing and grabbing and in that process also manipulate and influence court proceedings in their favour or in the favour of litigants who approach them and use all means to ensure the same including pressurizing and threatening advocates from appearing on behalf of the contesting parties and some time attempting to exercise influence upon the court itself by various means,” the court said.
The court also directed the SSP, Azamgarh, to provide adequate security to plaintiff Mohd Shakir until further orders. Moreover, the Bar Council of India, the UP Bar Council, the Union home, law and justice ministries, UP DGP, income tax department and the Central Bar Association, Lucknow, were impleaded as parties to the proceedings.
