Policemen attack judge in Bihar court; HC asks DGP to file status report

Two policemen allegedly attacked a judge inside a courtroom in Bihar's Madhubani district on Thursday, prompting the Patna High Court to take suo motu cognizance of the matter and ask the state's director general of police to file a status report.

The two policemen entered the courtroom during the hearing of a case involving them, allegedly pointed a gun at Additional District and Sessions Judge of Jhanjharpur Avinash Kumar, and attacked him. The judge is safe but is reportedly shaken by the sudden development.

Station House Officer Gopal Krishna and Sub-inspector Abhimanyu Kumar also attacked lawyers and court employees who tried to protect the judge, injuring them.

Terming the incident as "unprecedented and shocking", a division bench of the high court comprising Justices Rajan Gupta and Mohit Kumar Shah directed the DGP to file a status report pertaining to the incident in a sealed cover on November 29 when the matter will be heard again.

The DGP was also directed to be present in the court on that day.

Prima facie, it appears that this episode puts the independence of judiciary in jeopardy. We, thus, deem it fit to issue notice to the respondents the Chief Secretary,... the Director General of Police, Bihar, the Principal Secretary, Home Department, ... and the Superintendent of Police (Madhubani) , the court said in its order.

Following the direction of the chief justice of the Patna High Court, the case was listed for a special hearing in the evening at around 7 pm.

The matter was brought to the notice of the high court by the in-charge district and sessions judge, Madhubani.

Senior police officers are tightlipped about the incident.