Lawyers attack Kanhaiya Kumar, inside and outside court

Student union president of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Kanhaiya Kumar, was beaten up by the lawyers outside the Patiala House court complex on Wednesday. Kanhaiya was brought to be produced before the metropolitan magistrate (MM) Loveleen's court for trial proceedings when, despite the unprecedented security, a mob of lawyers descended upon him.

Kanhaiya was brought in via a visitors/lawyers' entrance, not normally used to bring in arrested accused, at 2:50 pm after a medical check-up. This move by the Delhi Police is puzzling since gate no.1 on Tilak Marg, which is close to the lock-up, is the de facto entrance used to bring in arrested prisoners and high-profile accused.

That was the first attack. Kumar was attacked for the second time inside the court complex by a "lawyer", in a grey-checked coat, wearing goggles (brown sunglasses) and with rings on fingers. He was intercepted by his attacker in the corridor leading to the courtroom where Kumar was to be produced.

According to eyewitnesses, this "lawyer" then sidled up to three Delhi police officials – Subhash, Kapil Kumar and Banay Singh – and was heard boasting about his act. The entire group then shared a laugh, hi-fi-ed each other and said, "Good, job well done."

The scene at the trial court complex was nothing short of a war zone. The security at the perimeter and inside the court complex saw heavy police presence since 8 am. Police personnel had made arrangements for water cannons, tear gas and lathis to disperse unruly crowds.

An hour before Kanhaiya was to be produced, a group of lawyers who claimed they practiced in Haryana, raised slogans in his favour. The situation quickly turned ugly when lawyers protesting against Kanhaiya accused the Haryana lawyers of being traitors. Within moments, the lawyers who were sloganeering and interacting with the media outside the Patiala court, were dragged in by those inside and thrashed. An All India Students Federation (AISF) activist was also thrashed in the process. When mediapersons who were standing nearby started to record the incident, including this dna reporter, they were threatened.

The same set of lawyers who were opposing Kumar then shoved around the media personnel and police posted at the spot then hurriedly tried to close the main gate to the Patiala court. While all the reporters managed to leave the premise, First Post reporter Tariq Anwar was left inside.

Moments later a batch of 8-10 lawyers spotted him and after repeated pleas by journalists stating that Tariq was from the media, he was beaten for the next 2-3 minutes. "I kept on telling them that I was from the media but they wouldn't just listen," Tariq told dna soon after the incident.

When Kumar was finally brought to the court, he was first attacked by lawyers at the entrance. Simultaneously, stones were being thrown at the media present outside the court premises. The situation was brought under control by the police but not before the entire area around the main gates of the court complex were barricaded.

To cover the court proceedings, the Supreme Court had allowed five reporters from agencies and 25 media personnel within the complex. Mediapersons who were boxed in between barricades outside MM Loveleen's court were heckled and abused by the lawyers beyond it. The waiting scribes were threatened with violence and some from the mob even tried to cross over. Had the lawyers succeeded in jumping over, the scribes who were basically sitting ducks with no way to escape would have been picked off like fish in a barrel.

After repeated requests, the Delhi police finally swung into action and deployed troops to protect the reporters. However, even this additional layer of security did not deter the mob. "We do not care for any Supreme Court directive," they replied when told that the apex court had allowed the media to cover the proceedings.

It is interesting to note that the same lawyers who are thought to have orchestrated the Monday attacks were seen walking about. The 'lawyer' who led the assault on Pandey on Monday also threatened correspondents on Wednesday, "Why did you save your colleague from the attack inside the courtroom (on Monday)?," he asked. Another lawyer Vikram Chauhan who is seen as one of the perpetrators of the Monday attacks was also seen roaming about. Surendra Tyagi, the lawyer who claimed to have attacked Kumar outside the court premises had earlier in the day (before the attack) come up to this dna correspondent and stated, "Why don't you portray this (the violence donning the hat of "patriotism") as a positive thing. Why are you making it sound negative?" This intimidation and fear of an imminent attack by the unruly mob did not abate till 4 pm when court proceedings were adjourned for the day by the Supreme Court.