The Allahabad High Court recently ordered the State to pay a compensation of ₹1 to Senior Advocate Dr Ashok Nigam as a token of respect in a case seeking damages for the lawyers who had been beaten up by the police in 2004 during a peaceful agitation [Dr Ashok Nigam vs State of UP].The petition was moved by Dr Nigam in 2007 prayed for compensation to the injured lawyers as well as appropriate action against the police personnel.The senior lawyer himself had suffered injuries in the police action.While remarking that the matter was quite old, the division bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Om Prakash Shukla on March 20 asked the senior counsel about the compensation he was expecting.Dr Nigam responded that he would accept any compensation fixed by the Court as the fight was “more with regard to the honour of the lawyers”.Accordingly, the Court passed the following order,“Looking into the seniority stature and respect Dr. Ashok Nigam, learned Senior Advocate/petitioner commands as a token of respect, we direct respondents to pay Rs.1/- as compensation to the petitioner."Dr Nigam is the Chairman of the Elders Committee and also a leading lawyer at the Lucknow bench, the Court recorded in the order.A Commission headed by a retired judge appointed earlier to inquire into the police action, had recommended closure of the case saying that things had got pacified with the efflux of time.However, the Court in 2020 had noted that since the case involved allegations of merciless beating of lawyers by police during a peaceful agitation, the issue cannot be closed in the manner it was suggested.“It is not only to maintain discipline in the administration and police personnel, who acted mercilessly resulting in multiple fractures to many advocates apart from serious injuries,” the Court had said.However, the Court last month decided to close the matter with Dr Nigam’s consent.Advocate Neerav Chitravanshi represented the petitioner.
TAGS: Allahabad High Court compensation token of respect Dr. Ashok Nigam State of UP lawyers police brutality peaceful agitation
