Supreme Court Bar Association demands probe into lawyer’s killing in Hyderabad

The Supreme Court Bar Association condemned the killing of senior advocate Khaja Moizuddin in Hyderabad and sought a swift investigation. The lawyer was allegedly run over by an SUV near Masab Tank, with police registering a murder case and probing the incident.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Bar Association on Tuesday condemned the “planned, brutal, and shocking murder” of senior advocate Khaja Moizuddin in Hyderabad and sought a “fair, expeditious and thorough investigation” for bringing perpetrators to justice.

Senior lawyer Khaza Moizuddin, 63, died after being allegedly run over by unidentified assailants in an SUV on May 23.

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The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), headed by senior advocate Vikas Singh, issued a statement, saying, “The attack resulting in the death of a member of the Bar is not merely a crime against an individual but an assault on the institution of justice itself.”

The resolution, signed by SCBA Secretary Pragya Baghel, said the death “clearly looks like a planned, brutal and shocking murder of the senior advocate”.

“The incident has deeply disturbed the legal fraternity and raises serious concerns regarding the safety and security of advocates discharging their professional duties…The legal profession forms an essential pillar of the justice delivery system, and any act of violence against advocates strikes at the very foundation of the rule of law,” the statement said.

The association urged the concerned authorities to conduct a “fair, expeditious and thorough investigation and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice at the earliest in accordance with law.”

The 63-year-old lawyer was about to get into his car when the SUV without a number plate hit him at his residence at Masab Tank in Hyderabad.

Moizuddin was rushed to a hospital but breathed his last while undergoing treatment, police said.

Visuals of the man being hit by a car had gone viral.

Moizuddin’s son said his father was fighting against encroachment and the grabbing of waqf properties by certain persons, who, he alleged, were behind the incident.

Five attempts were made earlier on his father, he said, adding that the alleged waqf encroachers threatened him to persuade his father to stop fighting the cases against them. Based on Moizuddin’s son’s complaint, a murder case has been registered, police had said.