Special CBI judge O.P. Saini, hearing a bribery case against a member of Bar Council of India (BCI), was allegedly held hostage by a group of unruly lawyers for over an hour on Thursday, after the court dismissed his bail application.
A court staff member, talking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity over phone, said, “After hearing several slogans, I reached the courtroom, where Special CBI Judge Saini was verbally abused by some 40-50 lawyers, who had gathered in the Patiala House Courts on December 23 to gather support for accused, Rajendra Singh Rana, arrested by the CBI on bribery charges. They raised slogans besides hurling abuses when the court dismissed the bail plea of Rana.”
The probe agency had on December 20 arrested Rana along with Manish Tyagi, one of the members of the advisory body of the Global Law College, Ghaziabad, for allegedly taking bribe of `1 lakh for granting affiliation to the college.
Upset over denial of bail to Rana, the lawyers led by some senior advocates kept the judge confined to his room and raised slogans besides hurling abuses.
They even tried to attack and manhandle CBI officials present there, the sources said. To control the situation, some court officials called the Registrar General of Delhi high court after which police personnel were rushed to the courts, the source said.
The judge had rejected Rana’s bail plea saying that “the probe is at its initial stage”.
Rana was allegedly taking bribe of `1 lakh for giving a favourable inspection report of the college. Rana was elected to the Bar Council of Delhi in 1998 and became its vice-chairman in 2000. In 2010, he was elected to the BCI. Rana and Tyagi are in judicial custody till January 6.