Man tries to slit throat using sharp object inside Chief Justice’s court hall during proceedings in High Court of Karnataka

Based on the judge’s directions, the Registrar General of the high court has initiated a probe to ascertain lapses, if any, on the part of the security personnel.

A 51-year-old man tried to slit his throat and neck in front of the judges inside Court Hall-1 of the High Court of Karnataka when the judicial proceedings were underway before a Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice on Wednesday afternoon (April 3).

The incident occurred around 1 p.m. when the Bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice H.B. Prabhakara Sastry was hearing a petition related to mines and minerals listed at serial number 26 of the cause list of the day.

The man, who has been identified by the police as Nagaraj, came close to the platform where the court officers sit in front of the podium where the judges sit. He kept some papers related to certain litigation on the table in front of the court officers, and slit his throat and neck using a sharp object brought by himself.

The Bench was engaged in hearing the arguments of the advocate for the petitioner and the government advocate on the petition listed at serial number 26 when the man resorted to these acts. The man appeared to have uttered some thing to the court officer and the judges before cutting inflicting self injuries.

Following this, the Chief Justice summoned the police personnel and asked them to take the man to the doctors immediately as he was bleeding. He was rushed to Bowring hospital in an ambulance for treatment.

Justice Sastry asked how could a man enter the court hall despite having tight security for carrying out checks and wanted to know what kind of sharp object the man possessed. He told the court officers not to touch the papers that the man had kept on the table.

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice summoned the Registrar General and directed that the incident be referred to the jurisdictional police as per the procedure. As the man was in a position to walk, the police quickly escorted him to outside the court hall.