Four people attempted suicide by consuming phenyl in a Gujarat high court courtroom on Thursday in protest of the court’s order granting anticipatory bail to a banker.
Jayshree Panchal and her husband Shailesh Panchal, Hardik Patel, and Manoj Vaishnav were identified as the four individuals. They were rushed to the nearby Sola Civil Hospital, where their condition was declared stable and they were conscious, according to the emergency medical service.
The Panchals were complainants in a case involving four people, including the general manager of Colour Merchant Cooperative Bank, Kinnar Shah. He was accused of extending a Rs 1.60 crore loan without the Panchals’ knowledge by mortgaging their home. On January 13, a FIR was filed with the Anandnagar police station.
In this case, Shah requested anticipatory bail, which was granted by Justice Nirzar Desai. Jayshree, who was sitting in the second row during the hearing, stood up and shouted in protest of the court’s decision as soon as the judge finished dictating the order and the lawyers involved in the case began to disperse. She lifted a bottle and began to drink from it.
Three others quickly followed suit. Police officers rushed into the courtroom, attempting to prevent Jayshree and others from drinking any more liquid. The incident was caught on camera while the court proceedings were being streamed live.
“One 108 ambulance is kept present on the high court campus to meet any emergency,” said Advocate Pruthvirajsinh Jadeja, president of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association. The four people were rushed to the hospital for treatment.”
