The Kerala High Court has slammed the brakes on a bid for anticipatory bail by nine men accused of violently assaulting an advocate—an act allegedly triggered by the lawyer’s role in drafting a legal complaint against them.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, presiding over the matter, minced no words in condemning the attack, calling it a direct strike on the legal system itself. “Assaulting an advocate for drafting a complaint cannot be viewed lightly,” the judge observed. “Such acts imperil access to justice and shake the very foundation of rule of law.”
The incident traces back to April, when advocate Asif Rahman was allegedly ambushed and left with chest trauma and spinal fractures. According to the case records, Rahman had prepared a formal complaint on behalf of a client, in which one of the accused men was prominently named. That document, the Court noted, likely served as the flashpoint for the attack.
The accused, now facing charges under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha, 2023—including provisions addressing criminal intimidation, grievous assault, and unlawful assembly—claimed the incident never occurred and branded the complaint a fabrication. But the Court found no merit in these claims.
“The allegation that the complaint is a concoction stands unsupported. The nature of injuries and the timing of events point toward a calculated and brutal act,” the Court held.
Strongly dismissing the plea for pre-arrest bail, the judge emphasized that targeting those who help citizens access justice is unacceptable. “When advocates become targets for doing their duty, the ripple effects reach every citizen,” the Court said, while underscoring the gravity of the charges and the injuries sustained.
The Court’s stance sends a stern signal: violence against members of the legal fraternity—especially for the act of facilitating justice—will be met not with leniency, but with the full weight of the law.
