Cops use water canons on protesting lawyers in Chandigarh

The police used water cannons against lawyers of Punjab and Haryana high court in Chandigarh on Wednesday as the advocates tried to break barricades while protesting the registration of case against some of their fellow members for allegedly manhandling a cop recently.

The members of Punjab and Haryana high court bar association assembled in Chandigarh at the court premises and marched toward UT administrator and Punjab governor Shivraj V Patil's official residence, the police said.

They were stopped near Rock garden by the police, but after convincing the police that they will peacefully submit a memorandum to the Governor, they were allowed to move ahead.

As they reached the residence of the governor, some of the advocates broke the barricades and demanded to go inside, when police resorted to the use of water cannons against them, following which the advocates dispersed from the spot.

Meanwhile, the bar association continued with its indefinite strike to protest against the registration of a First Information Report against 20 lawyers allegedly involved in thrashing of a cop on the court premises recently.

The FIR was registered on Monday against former Additional Advocate General Punjab Rupinder Singh Khosla and 19 other high court lawyers.

The remaining lawyers who had allegedly thrashed Ramesh Chand, a head constable with the Chandigarh police on February 26 are yet to be identified, the police said.

Terming it a ‘conspiracy’ hatched by Chandigarh police against the lawyers community the Bar association had labeled the FIR as ‘concocted and false’.

Meanwhile, Khosla alleged, "I am the victim in the case, I was punched by the cop in full public view. I did not touch him yet an FIR was registered against me. This is a lopsided inquiry by Chandigarh police to save the skin of their official who is at fault."

The bar association demanded that the condition to carry smart cards for entering the court should be abolished.