Lawyer banned from DHCBA sports events after allegations of assault on fellow lawyer during cricket match

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has banned a lawyer, advocate Praveen Nagar, from participating in any sporting events organised by the association after he allegedly assaulted another lawyer during a recent cricket match..Praveen Nagar was said to have injured another lawyer, advocate Ayush Soni, by hitting him on the head with a cricket bat during a cricket match organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on over the weekend..Following the incident, the DHCBA's Executive Committee decided to disqualify the cricket team led by advocate Praveen Nagar, namely "JUST CRICKET", from the ongoing DHCBA Cricket Premier League, 2024.In a March 18 notice, the DHCBA also condemned advocate Nagar for his alleged conduct and decided that he would not be permitted to participate in any other sporting events organized by the association."The Executive Committee, Delhi High Court Bar Association strongly condemns such an act on the playing field. The Executive Committee further requests the teams entering the Quarter Finals of the DHCBA Cricket Premier League-2024 to be careful and play the game with sportsmen spirit and maintain the harmony and brotherhood," the March 18 notice added. .A criminal case has also been filed against advocate Nagar by advocate Soni citing the offences under Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of Indian Penal Code. In the first information report (FIR) registered on Soni's complaint, he said that the dispute between him and Nagar started off as a verbal altercation. He alleged that Nagar had initially hurled insults and verbal abuse. Soni stated that he then called up a senior lawyer who owned the cricket team to complain about such conduct.However, the dispute then allegedly escalated and Nagar was accused of using a cricket bat to hit Soni on the head. In his police complaint, Soni added that such an attack was launched with an intent to kill and cause grievous injuries. .Meanwhile, Nagar has denied these allegations and countered that it was Soni who assaulted him physically, besides allegedly threatening him and his family. The counter-allegations were made in a complaint sent to the Station House Officer at Barakhamba Road Police Station on March 20.In this complaint, Nagar said that during the cricket match held last weekend, Soni had charged at him with a bat and injured a team member who tried to intervene. Nagar added that Soni then attacked him with a chair, allegedly leading to injuries on Nagar's nose. As regards the injury that Soni claims he sustained on his head, Nagar's complaint said, "It appears that while he (Soni) was swinging his bat hardly at me, the tip of it may have hit his forehead and he may have also gotten injured in the process."Nagar further said that he did not want to escalate the issue, but is now forced to present his side of the story since attempts are being made to sabotage his career. "The DHCBA Executive Committee has even started a smear campaign to harm and disrepute me and my career," the statement sent by Nagar to the police added. An FIR is yet to be registered on this complaint. .Note: An initial version of the story said that the assault with cricket bat happened during a cricket march organised by DHCBA. It, however, happened during a match organised by another bar association. The error has been corrected and is regretted.This article has been updated with the statement made by Advocate Praveen Nagar..[Read DHCBA Notice]