Allahabad High Court Slams Recurring Strikes By Lawyers

Prayagraj, January 30 (TNA) The Allahabad High Court (HC) has expressed strong displeasure over the daily strike by lawyers and has made harsh remarks. The court is not an industrial establishment that can go on strike now and then, the court observed. A strike in the judicial system stops the wheels of justice. This makes the enemies of justice happy, it went on to say.

The High Court made these strong comments on the strike of Advocates of Rasra Tehsil of Ballia and said that the Court is not an industry nor is it a Bar Council or Bar Association Trade Union, which bargains with the industry owners to get their demands met.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice MK Gupta and Justice Kshitij Shailendra made these scathing comments while hearing the petition of Jung Bahadur Kushwaha. The court also said that the lawyers' strike not only wastes time in providing justice but also leads to degradation and loss of social values, increases the number of pending cases and hurts the justice system.

The court said that the lawyers' strike without any proper reason put the life, freedom and livelihood of the poor litigants sitting on the margins of society at risk. The court said that civilized society should listen to the silent cries of the litigants and find a solution, otherwise, when the doors of justice are closed, they will start taking the help of criminals outside the ambit of law to get justice.

Citing the Supreme Court, the court said that the lawyer who has taken the case from the litigant cannot refuse to go to the court. The court also said that on June 6, 2023, the court had directed the Bar Council to constitute a grievance redressal committee in which order was given to include District Judge, Additional District Judge, CJM, DGC Civil and Criminal and District Bar Association so that the lawyers' strike could be controlled.

The Court said that the Bar Association does not have the right to act against the decision of the Supreme Court. Quoting the Advocate Act, the court said that it has the right to cancel the registration of lawyers who paralyze the justice system and take action against the bar association. The court has directed the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council to present any guidelines to control the strike and to file information about the action taken against the strikers. The next hearing of the petition will be on February 5.