Lawyers stop work at Mumbai court to protest assault of colleague in police station

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Hundreds of lawyers at the Metropolitan Magistrate court in Mumbai's Borivali suburb went on a strike on Thursday after one of their colleagues was allegedly assaulted by a cop inside a police station, an official said.

According to Rajesh More, president of the court's bar association, a lawyer named Prithviraj Zhala was on Tuesday hit at Kandivli police station, where he had gone with a client, following an argument with assistant police inspector (API) Anant Gite.

Without any reason, API Gite slapped our lawyer four times and behaved very arrogantly. The same day, we visited the police station and demanded action against the officer. We also met top officials of Mumbai police who assured us that action will be initiated, said More.

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Justifying the protest, More said, Today, we have stopped working in the court. No advocate will take up any case. We want that API Gite be booked and the Advocates Protection Act be enacted.

An official said API Gite has been assigned to the office of the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Zone XI till an inquiry report on the matter is submitted. The inquiry will be conducted by the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of the Goregaon division.

At the time of the incident, the official said, lawyer Zhala was in plain clothes. We are looking into the matter, a senior police official said.

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