Bar bodies condemn threats to retired Bombay high court judge, family over 2024 Dawoodi Bohra verdict

THe exclude connexion of republic of india and the Bombay exclude connection on Monday expressed concern and anguish over the threats and attack on (retd.) Justice GS Patel and his family in India and the UK over the last ten months.The two lawyers’ bodies issued letters of solidarity following HT’s report that detailed the threats and the violent attack on the judge’s daughter in the UK over a 2024 judgment he passed settling the succession issue in the Dawoodi Bohra community. The letters, received by Justice Patel’s family members, first in September last year and most recently on June 5, demanded that he recant his judgment by posting a YouTube video.“A society that cannot protect its judges cannot, in the end, protect the rights of any of its citizens. The Bar Association of India expresses its earnest expectation that every necessary measure will be taken to safeguard judges and their families from acts of intimidation and violence, and pledges its fullest support to that end.” It also said, “The demand that a judge disown a verdict by video, under coercion, is an attempt to substitute intimidation for adjudication, and can have no place in a civilised society”.The Bombay Bar Association (BBA), of which Justice Patel was a part before his elevation to the bench in 2013, passed an eight-point resolution calling upon the Ministry of External Affairs to take up the matter with authorities in the UK and ensure the safety of Justice Patel’s family.“Violence or threats of violence against judges or their families strike at the very heart of judicial independence and constitute a blatant assault on the rule of law. Such conduct is not merely an attack upon an individual Judge; it is an attack upon the institution of the judiciary and the constitutional promise that disputes will be resolved by courts free from fear, favour, affection or ill-will,” the BBA resolution stated.Both the opposing factions in the succession suit that Justice Patel decided on April 23, 2024, also condemned the attack. In a statement on Monday, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the incumbent Syedna, urged members of the Dawoodi Bohra community to assist law enforcement agencies in both India and the UK. “The community will continue to stand firmly for peace, lawful conduct, and the sanctity of the judicial process,” read Syedna Saifuddin’s statement.Dr Aziz Bhaisaheb Qutbuddin, director of communications for the office of Taher Fakhruddin, leader of the Qutbi faction, which lost the suit in the Bombay HC, said, “Syedna Taher Fakhruddin Saheb unequivocally condemns any such threats and violence.”The alleged campaign of threats and violence stemmed from Justice Patel’s 2024 judgment affixing who the real spiritual head of the million-strong Dawoodi Bohra community is — a matter which has cleaved the community. HT reported on Monday that in addition to the threats sent to Justice Patel’s home in Mumbai, his daughter Aditi Patel, 38, a British national, has been subjected to multiple threats and vicious physical assault by a masked man in London on April 22.This was followed up by another letter of June 5 in which the anonymous writer threatened that the Patel family “would be cremated” if Justice Patel did not recant his judgment. The Hertfordshire police are investigating the matter.It is also learnt that the High Commission of India in London has taken up the matter with the local law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders in the UK.