Lawyers to protest midnight swoop by police on Ramdev protest

Advocates practising in various lower courts in Delhi today decided to strike work for a day on June 8 to protest the malady of corruption in society and police swoop on Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's supporters on Saturday-Sunday midnight to evict them from Ramlila ground.

"The bar feels that the barbaric act of the government is unheard of in any democratic country of the world. It seems the police has forgotten the difference between a civilised society and criminals," said Rajiv Khosla, spokesperson of the co-ordination committee of bar associations of Delhi.

The Bar Associations of Patiala House Court, Tis Hazari court, Dwarka court and Rohini court have decided to strike work on May 8.

Addressing a press conference today, Delhi Bar Association secretary general Sanjeev Nassiar said it was totally wrong to evict the peaceful protestors by using force and lobbing tear gas shells without there being any provocation on the part of the crowd.

He said the crowd had gathered at Ramlila Maidan after due permission from police to demand bringing back of black money stashed abroad to the country.

The lawyers alleged, "The government is unnecessarily bringing a debate on black money as well as the issue of non-inclusion of high court and Supreme Court judges under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill."