The Panchkula District Bar Association proceeded on a one-day strike on Tuesday, alleging that the Haryana Police failed to act on a complaint filed by an advocate against a serving Lieutenant Colonel posted at Chandimandir Military Station.

On July 10, the police registered an FIR against advocate Maninder Singh Bitta and a group of advocates for allegedly assaulting Lieutenant Colonel Ashish Chandok, wrongfully confining him and forcing him to sign an agreement. The police invoked charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt and wrongful confinement in the FIR. However, no arrests had been made in the case even after 72 hours of the FIR being registered.

In a fresh turn to the case, the District Bar Association, Panchkula, claimed that Lieutenant Colonel Ashish assaulted and misbehaved with Bitta inside the court. It alleged that the officer openly threatened Bitta, saying that if he continued to represent his wife as counsel, he would kill him and that no advocate could do anything against him. Bitta also submitted a complaint to the police.

An emergent meeting of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association was held on Tuesday, during which it was unanimously decided to abstain from work for the day in solidarity with Bitta.

According to the FIR registered by the Haryana Police, Lieutenant Colonel Ashish Chandok has been contesting three cases filed by his wife in the Panchkula courts over the past year. He has been living separately from his wife.

Lieutenant Colonel Chandok told the police that on July 9, during the hearing of his cases in the Family Courts, Panchkula, the opposing counsel, Maninder Singh Bitta, and his associates misbehaved with him before calling 10 to 17 lawyers, who allegedly assaulted him outside a courtroom.

He alleged that Bitta and the other lawyers then wrongfully confined him in the chamber of advocate N.S. Sodhi, where they assaulted him again.

Bitta and his associates then allegedly threatened him to write a 'raazinama', failing which they would not let him leave and would continue to assault him.

"They got a raazinama signed by me, which I was not able to read. After I signed it, I was allowed to leave the court complex," he told the police.

The medical examination of Lieutenant Colonel Chandok revealed two injuries.