Man immolates himself, enters Gujarat Chief Justice's court

With 10-12 per cent burn injuries on back and head, he was rushed to the Sola civil hospital for treatment.

A man, dressed as an advocate, on Tuesday set himself on fire and entered the court of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy at the Gujarat High Court before the lawyers present there doused the flames.

Assistant commissioner of police B J Pandya said he was identified as Kishore Agarwal, resident of Surat. With 10-12 per cent burn injuries on back and head, he was rushed to the Sola civil hospital for treatment, she said.

The SRP constable posted outside the CJ's courtroom had tried to stop him from entering but failed, the ACP said.

Agarwal runs an NGO, 'Noori', in Surat, and had approached the High Court with a petition to quash an FIR filed against him in connection with corruption in fund allocation. The court had last week dismissed his petition.

"We could not find out if he is a lawyer although he claims to be one. Exact reason for his act is also not yet known. He had come in connection with a case heard in the court of Justice Sonia Gokani," Pandya said.

"He managed to enter the Chief Justice's court despite an SRP constable trying to drag him away. We are checking CCTV footage to get more information," Pandya said.

The incident halted the court proceedings for two-three hours.