Legal profession tainted by hooliganism: SC slams lawyers in UP toll plaza case

The Supreme Court has come down heavily on members of the Barabanki District Bar Association in Uttar Pradesh for vandalising a toll plaza and ransacking a fellow advocate’s office after he appeared for the toll employees, saying that the legal profession is now tainted by such acts of “hooliganism”.

On January 14, five persons allegedly assaulted advocate Ratnesh Shukla, a resident of Pratapgarh, during a dispute over the passage of a car at the toll plaza in Haidergarh tehsil.

The incident triggered protests, with a large number of advocates gathering at the toll plaza on the Lucknow-Sultanpur stretch of National Highway 731 and forcing a shutdown of operations. Later, a resolution was passed and circulated within the local Bar to the effect that no advocate would represent the accused persons.

Despite the resolution, advocate Manoj Shukla filed a bail application on behalf of the accused and thereafter, the members of the Bar resorted to unruly behaviour and the office furniture of the said advocate was set on fire, and his effigy was also burnt. The accused then filed a petition before the top court seeking bail as no lawyer was ready to represent them in the trial court and also sought transfer of the trial.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta condemned the role of the members of the Bar at Barabanki, who indulged into “hooliganism” by damaging the furniture, etc. of the advocate, who had filed the bail application on behalf of the petitioners.

“The facts noted reveal a very sorry state of affairs. The legal profession, which was once regarded as a noble profession, has clearly been tainted and tarnished by the acts of hooliganism perpetrated pursuant to the fracas which took place at the toll plaza on January 14, 2026.

“We can understand the sentiment of fraternity amongst the lawyers but that, by no means, can justify the acts of violence and lawlessness which ensued when a brave lawyer came forward to defend the accused. These deplorable acts of hooliganism deserve to be deprecated. The disciplinary body, i.e., the Bar Council of India, is expected to take appropriate steps in this regard,” the bench said. The top court said a “bare perusal of the FIR is sufficient to satisfy us that it was not a case wherein the accused could have been denied bail”.

“There is no dispute that the petitioners were performing their duties at the toll plaza where the incident happened. Possibility cannot be ruled out that the complainant may have resisted the attempt of the petitioners in demanding toll (rightly so), resulting into a spat between the complainant and the employees of the toll plaza, i.e., the petitioners herein,” the bench said.

The apex court said denial of bail to the accused and the curtailment of their liberty for a period exceeding two months is absolutely unjustified and violative of the Fundamental Right of Liberty.

“In order to ensure that the accused get proper legal representation and a fair trial, we direct that the proceedings arising out of the FIR No.15/2026 shall stand transferred to the Tis Hazari Courts, New Delhi, for all further actions, i.e., remand, filing of the result of the investigation, and trial,” the bench said.

The top court said the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, shall be responsible for the safety and security of the petitioners, and shall ensure that after their release on bail, the petitioners are duly escorted to a safe location.