A man allegedly tried to slit his throat with a knife on the premises of Karnataka High Court on Wednesday in front of Chief Justice Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria in Court Hall One, news agency PTI reported, citing police.
The events unfolded around 1.20 pm in the hall before the division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice HB Prabhakara Sastry, news agency IANS reported. According to the police, Srinivas, who reportedly hails from Mysuru, handed over a file to security staff at the entrance of Court Hall One, and before anyone could realise what was happening, he had slit his own throat in the presence of Chief Justice Anjaria.
The security personnel were swift to respond and rushed Srinivas to Bowring Hospital, where he is now under treatment, a senior police officer said. "We don't know why he took such an extreme step. He entered Court Hall One and slit his throat with a knife. Our security staff deployed inside saw it happen and immediately rescued him. He is hospitalised," he said, as quoted by PTI. No suicide note was found at the spot, he further stated.
Expressing concern over the security lapse on the high court premises, Chief Justice Anjaria asked those in charge how the man managed to bring a sharp object inside the court. He also ordered the police to conduct a panchnama (record of findings and evidence) of the spot and told them not to touch the knife. According to PTI, the contents of the file that Srinivas gave to the security staff are unknown, and the court has said it would not check the documents as it was not presented to court by a designated advocate.
The high court also stated that the authorities must not receive any documents without the court's order. Police are still ascertaining the reason for the man's suicide attempt and are waiting to record his statement once he is declared fit by doctors.