Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The district court here has sentenced five lawyers from Ujjain in a 2009 attempted murder case.
Four of them have been awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment, while a 90-year-old lawyer Surendra Sharma has been sentenced to three years of imprisonment. This is the first instance where five lawyers have been convicted together in a single case by a district court.
Advocates Ashok Kumar Sharma and Gagan Bajad informed that the convicted lawyers included Dharmendra Sharma, Shailendra Sharma, Bhavendra Sharma and Purushottam Rai, along with 90-year-old Surendra Sharma.
They were accused of launching a deadly assault in the Ujjain district court in 2009. The case was registered under Section 307/34 of the IPC. Additional sessions judge Krishna Dagaliya found all accused guilty and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each in addition to the imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, Dharmendra and Shailendra are the sons of Surendra Sharma, while Bhavendra Sharma and Purushottam Rai are his juniors. Senior advocates Rajendra Samdani, Rahul Vijayvargiya, Kanishk Sharma and Vijay Govindani were also present when the case details were shared in a press briefing.
Case background
The incident dates back to February 10, 2009, when senior journalist Ghanshyam Patel appeared in court to testify against Dharmendra Sharma in an ongoing case. Patel was allegedly threatened with death inside the court.
The next day, when Patel appeared again, the five accused lawyers allegedly attacked him with chairs, sticks, rods and wooden batons. Patel’s revolver, wristwatch and chain were also snatched.
Severely injured, Patel was admitted to Ujjain’s Sanjeevani Hospital for three days and later shifted to Indore’s Gokuldas Hospital, where he remained under treatment for 15 days.
Case transferred to Indore court
Given the influence of the accused, all being practicing advocates, the case was later transferred from Ujjain to Indore court by the high court. However, even there, Patel was subjected to intimidation to prevent him from testifying.
Reports said that during the trial in Ujjain, the accused repeatedly filed applications for judges’ transfers to delay proceedings.
Supreme Court’s intervention
Advocate Bajad highlighted that Patel was the complainant in a dispute against Dharmendra Sharma and his testimony was crucial. Due to repeated delays and pressure tactics, the matter even reached the Supreme Court, which ordered a final verdict within six months.
The Bar Council of India also intervened, resulting in the cancellation of Dharmendra Sharma’s license to practice law while he was in jail.
