Work in criminal courts at Nampally came to a standstill on Friday after advocates boycotted the courts to protest against what they alleged as high-handed behaviour of Labour Minister Danam Nagender against an advocate in Jubilee Hills on Thursday.
More than 150 advocates owing allegiance to the Telangana Advocates Joint Action Committee (TAJAC), assembled at the court’s main gate and raised slogans against the Minister. They alleged that the Minister had assaulted A. Tirupathi Varma, the joint secretary of Nampally Criminal Courts Bar Association, who they claimed was standing at a tea stall along with his friends on Road No. 12 in Jubilee Hills. The Minister, they maintained, got off his car and attacked him without any provocation. “We demand that Mr. Nagender be dropped from the Cabinet and arrested,” they said.
When the advocates tried to take out a rally, they were taken into custody. However, some of the lawyers managed to reach the Police Commissioner’s office in Basheerbagh and a delegation submitted a memorandum to the Commissioner urging him to direct the Banjara Hills police to register an FIR against the Minister. The Commissioner Anurag Sharma assured them that action would be taken.
