Lawyers on Tuesday staged protest outside the Delhi high court premises against the arrest of Anna Hazare and his supporters who had planned to hold a fast in support of strong Lokpal Bill.

"This is an emergency-like situation where an innocent person and his supporters have been denied their constitutional right to protest," Rajiv Khosla, president of Delhi Bar Association (DBA), said.

In an impromptu protest, lawyers stood for 30 minutes outside the high court premises against the arrest of the Gandhian leader and his supporters including former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.

"This is a black day in the history of Indian democracy as the government has scuttled the democratic process initiated for bringing probity and transparency in public life," senior advocate H S Phoolka, who has been waging legal battle for justice to 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, said.

Lawyers across the country would oppose the undemocratic ways and means to stifle the voice of the common people who are fed up with the corruption, a lawyer said.

About 100 advocates took part in the agitation, the DBA president said.