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Road rage case: Delhi HC refuses anticipatory bail to lawyer, says ‘all are equal in eyes of law’

Advocate Raj Kumar Chaudhary and another accused allegedly assaulted a software professional in a road rage incident.

3 min readNew DelhiMay 17, 2025 02:43 PM IST

The petitioners have sought that the respondent authorities be directed to furnish information about remedial action taken against the increasing pollution. (File Photo)

Refusing to grant anticipatory bail to a lawyer accused in a road rage incident, the Delhi High Court noted that “all are equal in the eyes of law” and said that granting relief to the accused would “malign the noble profession of advocacy”.

Justice Girish Kathpalia, dealing with the anticipatory bail plea of the accused advocate Raj Kumar Chaudhary, took note that apart from Chaudhary, the other accused was one Gajraj, president of Bajrang Vahini Dal, both of whom had allegedly assaulted a software professional in a road rage incident, leading to serious injuries to the victim, including head injuries.

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In an order on May 15, Justice Kathpalia recorded, “One of the assailants being president of a political organisation and the other being an advocate (the accused/applicant) were responsible members of the society, so must have ensured not to take law in their hands…Granting anticipatory bail in the broad daylight violence of the present nature at a public place would send wrong signals across the society that the aggressor took law in hands and walked free just because he happens to be an advocate. All are equal in the eyes of law and none can be treated as more equal. Such relief, if granted to the accused/applicant would also malign the noble profession of advocacy.”

Justice Kathpalia also emphasised that “road rage is not mere road rage”, elaborating that “it has wide-ranging ramifications in the form of not just physical injury but the psychological dent caused on the victim”.

“Quite often, it is seen that road rage leads to loss of human lives as well. The damage caused gets aggrandized when one of the aggressors is a lawyer while the other is a president of a political organization…one has to watch those footages of CCTV to fully understand the magnitude of the broad daylight violence in the public place, committed by the accused/applicant and his brother, both powerful persons of the society,” the court said.

An FIR was lodged on the incident at Neb Sarai police station under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Sohini Ghosh

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

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