The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Wednesday condemned the lathi-charge by Uttar Pradesh police on lawyers at the Ghaziabad district court on the alleged orders of a district and sessions judge following an altercation over the hearing of a bail plea.

The SCBA has sought a judicial probe into the incident by the Allahabad High Court chief justice. The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (Scora) also criticised the incident.

“The inhumane and violent act of police on advocates inside court premises in Ghaziabad was carried out under the alleged behest of (judge) Anil Kumar. The lathi-charge on the advocates is high-handedness of UP police, which is a clear violation of their rights and the rule of law.

“The SCBA shall not tolerate any attack on the prestige of advocates and in pursuance, demands that the High Court of Allahabad and the UP government shall take immediate steps to improve the law and order situation in the state,” SCBA honorary secretary Vikrant Yadav said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Kumar had a tiff with some lawyers after one of them insisted that the anticipatory bail plea moved by him should be heard on priority. The judge had declined the plea and asserted that it would not be heard out of turn but only as per rule. This led to a verbal clash between the lawyers and the judge, culminating in the lathi-charge. A dozen lawyers reportedly suffered injuries.