india

Updated: Dec 26, 2018 23:08 IST

A government lawyer allegedly thrashed a senior judge on the Nagpur district court premises on Wednesday afternoon. The incident took place at the sixth floor of the district court building when senior district and session court judge, Kiran Deshpande, was waiting for the lift.

The attacker was identified as Dipesh Parate, who has been an assistant public prosecutor (APP) of the Maharashtra government for three years.

According to eyewitnesses, Parate tried to commit suicide by jumping off the building after assaulting the judge, but security personnel caught him and handed him over to the local police.

It was said that Parate was annoyed with the Deshpande for delivering a judgment in a land dispute case against his father.

His father, Madanlal Parate, who is also a lawyer, filed a petition before the court against his cousins in a property dispute at Khamla, a west Nagpur locality. The case was filed in 1997 and was dismissed by Kulkarni on November 11 this year.

Parate junior is reported to have been annoyed with the verdict.

Sources said Parate had an altercation with the judge, hurled abuses and slapped the judge multiple times.

Deshpande approached the local police officer, Sunil Bonde, and lodged a complaint against Parate.

“The lawyer slapped me hard and I have pain in the ear too,” he said in his complaint.

Nagpur district government pleader Nitin Telgote described the incident as unfortunate.

While condemning the incident, Telgote said, “This is no way to protest. If he (Parate) had any grievances, he should have taken it up in a proper manner. The society does not expect this from lawyers.”

The police have registered a case for criminal intimidation and assaulting a public servant to deter him or her from doing his job. He has been arrested.

Last week, a junior lawyer, Lokesh Bhaskar attacked his senior, Sadanand Narnavare with an axe on the court premises in Nagpur. After the incident, the junior lawyer swallowed pesticide and ended his life while the senior lawyer is still battling for life at the local Mayo General Hospital.