In an important order, the Allahabad High Court has directed that any act of an individual lawyer of the state or their association to go on strike to give a call for strike or even to abstain from work on account of condolence due to the death of a lawyer/officer/employee of the court or their relatives would be treated as an ex-facie act of criminal contempt.
The court, however, clarified that lawyers or their associations may call any condolence meeting only after 3:30 p.m.
A division bench comprising of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Dr Gautam Chowdhary directed all the district judges across the state to report any act of strike by the lawyers in their respective courts to the registrar general of Allahabad High Court along with the name of office bearers of the respective bar association, which has given a call for strike or the name of lawyers who call such strike so that appropriate proceedings of criminal contempt are instituted against them following the law.
The court further directed that these directions be circulated to all district courts and displayed on the notice boards of all courts throughout the state to ensure strict compliance.
The court issued these directions while dealing with a suo moto criminal contempt matter, wherein cognizance was taken on a report received from district judge, Prayagraj indicating that between July 2023 and April 2024, the lawyers in district court abstained from work or resorted to strike on 127 days out of a total of 218 days.
Observing that as per the Supreme Court judgments, going on strike by lawyers is not only contempt of court but also amounts to professional misconduct, the court sought suggestions from the Bar Council of India (BCI), UP State Bar Council, and Allahabad High Court bar association to curb the menace of strikes in district courts of Uttar Pradesh.
Before the high court, the counsels representing the BCI and the bar council of Uttar Pradesh submitted that they opposed the lawyers going on strike and held the direction of the Supreme Court in the highest esteem.
The court in its order dated August 7 also considered a report by the registrar general of high court, which indicated that judicial work in the district courts is seriously hampered in the entire state due to advocate strike calls.
“The actual days of working in almost all courts are substantially curtailed thereby causing further strain on the otherwise overburdened courts in the state of Uttar Pradesh,” the court noted perusing the Registrar General’s report.
The matter will now be heard next on September 25, 2024.
