Patna HC Files Suo Motu PIL Against Lawyer Accused of Attempting to Rape Intern in Office

The Patna High Court on Tuesday registered a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Advocate Niranjan Kumar accused of attempting to rape a law intern inside his office.

The bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Partha Sarthy initiated the proceedings on the basis of the resolution/complaint passed by the Coordination Committee of three Associations of the Patna High Court.

In the morning session of the court, the Coordination Committee of three Associations of the Patna High Court presented a resolution before the division bench and requested the court to take up the matter suo motu and order an investigation into it.

The Committee also asked the court to bar the entry of Niranjan Kumar into the high court premises till a decision is taken on the suspension of his licence by the Bar Council.

The court was also informed that there had been similar incidents in the past where the advocate had been accused, and even at present, he was violating the law with impunity and was roaming in the court complex.

Taking a serious view, the Court ordered the Registry to register the resolution/complaint presented as a PIL and after processing the same, list it on the same day.

The PIL was registered and placed before the court. During the course of hearing on the matter, a report of an earlier enquiry was placed by the registry before the Court in sealed cover.

Taking note of it, as well as the interim report submitted by the Fact Finding Committee constituted by the Bihar State Bar Council, the Court issued notice to the accused lawyer and posted the matter for January 19 for further hearing.

THE CASE

Kumar allegedly molested the intern and attempted to rape her at his workplace on December 23, 2022.

The 21-year-old survivor, a second-year law student at Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), was working as an intern with him since December 1.

Following the incident, a first information report (FIR) was filed for attempt of rape and other offences under the Indian Penal Code. However, a day after the accused lawyer’s arrest (December 24), the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate granted him bail.

The State Bar Council has already passed a resolution prohibiting the accused lawyer from practicing in any court and the BCI has also suspended the lawyer, after a request was made by the Vice-Chancellor of CNLU for the same.

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