Allahabad High Court takes serious view over strikes by district court lawyers: Notices issued to president and secretary DBA Allahabad. Registrar General directed to find out from all district judges’ in the state to inform how many days lawyers have worked and abstained from courts due to strike in one year:
BK Singh
In view of unprecedented number of strikes, Allahabad High Court has issued show cause notices to president and secretary of the district bar association Prayagraj to reply why not criminal contempt proceeding be initiated against them.
The bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Misra and MAH Idrisi has also directed the registrar general to find out from all the district judges in the state of uttar pradesh that on how many working days lawyers had worked from July 2023 to April 2024 and on how many days they had been on strike in district courts.
The bench issued these orders on a criminal writ petition.
The court will hear this case on July 8.
The notices will be issued to president and secretary of DBA through the chief judicial magistrate.
Sudhir Mehrotra argued from the side of Allahabad High Court.
The bench has also sought cooperation from presidents bar council of India, New Delhi, uttar Pradesh bar council, Allahabad, high court bar association and advocates association.
The hight court had been apprised by district judge in a report that lawyers in Allahabad had worked on only 127 days out of 218 working days between July 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024.
As a result judicial work had been hampered.
The district judges’ report says only 41.74 working days were utilised while lawyers remained on strike during 58.26 working days.
Taking cognisance of this report the chief justice directed for filing of a case treating as criminal contempt of the court.
This action was taken in the light of supreme court judgment in Harish Uppal case and hence it is being treated as a case of criminal contempt.
The supreme had said, that lawyers had no right to go on strike. It amounts to not only contempt of court but also professional misconduct.
It may be mentioned not only in Allahabad, but lawyers through out the state are used to strike work in a manner unheard in any country.
This results in great misery to the litigants.
Professional misconduct is so common.
There are several groups of lawyers involved in eying properties owned by people.
There are so many instances where properties have been grabbed following manipulations by them and the real and genuine owners are making rounds of courts on each date since long.
However, barring them there are good number of saner and well meaning lawyers too who abide by the rule of law.
But for one reason or the other they prefer to maintain studied silence.
