The Bar Association of India and the Bombay Bar Association on Monday expressed concern and distress over the threats and attacks on Justice (Retd. G.S. Patel) and his family in India and the UK during the last 10 months.
The two bar bodies issued letters of solidarity in the wake of a Hizb ut-Tahrir report detailing the threats and violent attack on the daughter of a judge in the UK over a 2024 ruling to settle the succession issue in the Dawoodi Bohra community. Letters received by Justice Patel’s family members, first in September last year and most recently on June 5, asked the judge to reverse his ruling by posting a video on YouTube.
“A society that cannot protect its judges cannot ultimately protect the rights of any of its citizens. The Bar Association of India expresses its sincere expectation that all necessary measures will be taken to protect judges and their families from acts of intimidation and violence, and pledges its full support to this end.” She also said: “Asking a judge to disavow a video ruling, under duress, is an attempt to replace intimidation with ruling, and has no place in a civilized society.”
The Bombay Bar Association (BBA), of which Justice Patel was a member before his elevation to the bench in 2013, passed an eight-point resolution calling on the Ministry of External Affairs to take up the matter with the authorities in the UK and ensure the safety of Justice Patel’s family.
“Violence or threats of violence against judges or their families strikes at the heart of the independence of the judiciary and constitutes a blatant assault on the rule of law. Such conduct is not merely an attack on an individual judge, it is an attack on the institution of the judiciary and the constitutional promise that disputes will be resolved by the courts without fear, favour, favor or ill faith,” the BBA decision said.
Both opposing factions in the succession suit decided by Justice Patel on April 23, 2024, also condemned the attack. In a statement issued on Monday, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the current Syedna, urged members of the Daudi Bohra community to assist law enforcement agencies in both India and the UK. “The community will continue to stand firm for peace, legal conduct and the sanctity of the judicial process,” Sayyedna Saifuddin’s statement said.
“Sayyiduna Tahir Fakhruddin Saheb unequivocally condemns any such threats and acts of violence,” said Dr Aziz Bhaisaheb Qutbuddin, communications director in the office of Tahir Fakhruddin, the leader of the Qutb faction, who lost the case in the Bombay High Court.
The alleged campaign of threats and violence stemmed from Justice Patel’s 2024 ruling that determined who was the true spiritual head of the million-strong Daudi Bohra community – a matter that divided the community. HT reported on Monday that in addition to threats sent to Justice Patel’s Mumbai home, his daughter Aditi Patel, 38, a British citizen, was subjected to multiple threats and a vicious physical assault by a masked man in London on April 22.
This was followed by another letter dated June 5, in which the anonymous writer threatened that the Patel family would be “burned” if Judge Patel did not reverse his ruling. Hertfordshire Police are investigating the matter.
It is also learned that the High Commission of India in London has taken up the matter with local law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders in the UK.
