24 high court lawyers get jail for contempt of court

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday sentenced 24 lawyers practicing in Lakhimpur Kheri in contempt of court cases. However, the bench postponed the execution of sentences for three months.
A division bench awarded three months' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 fine on Harjeet Singh and one-month imprisonment and Rs 1,000 fine on 23 other contemnors, including district bar association secretary Ghanshyam Agnihotri, who was slapped a Rs 2,000-fine in a second case.
The court let off Sandeep Singh for want of proof of his involvement. These advocates were facing contempt charges on a reference by in charge chief judicial magistrate RK Shukla.
Infuriated over this, a mob of lawyers led by Harjeet had barged into his court and took it to ransom on October 21, 2011. In another incident, an advocate had misbehaved with a district judge in Kheri.
On behalf of the contemnors, advocate Satish Chandra Kashish moved an unconditional apology in the court but it declined to accept it, terming it as sham.
"No judicial system can tolerate such an ignoble act and conduct of practicing advocates," observed the bench of justice Imtiaz Murtaza and justice DK Upadhyaya.