The strike called by the Bar Council of India (BCI) over the alleged killing of an Allahabad lawyer by a police officer, has resulted in severe delays and thousands of adjourned cases, according to press reports.
Judicial work in the Delhi high court and six district courts was hampered and a majority of cases adjourned to another date (Mail Today).
The usually bustling courtrooms and hallways of the Bombay high court remained starkly empty as most of the practising lawyers abstained from work on Monday. The Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI) put up a notice in HC’s room number 36 for its members. The notice said that the Bar Council of India had sent a notice to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa calling for a national strike and the same was received by AAWI (Indian Express)
... the High Court having to defer several hearings when counsels failed to show up for arguments. They were represented by junior associates who pleaded for a deferment which the courts summarily granted. In some of the courts, parties represented themselves before the judge and asked for a future date while pointing out that their lawyers were on strike. (The Hindu).
PUNE: Hearing of thousands of cases was deferred causing severe inconvenience to litigants as agitating lawyers across Pune abstained from work in protest of the murder of a lawyer on the court premises in Allahabad recently.
The judicial work came to standstill in Pune and taluka courts while the work at family, labour and industrial courts, tribunals and quasi judicial bodies too got affected. The lawyers will resume work on Tuesday. (Times of India Pune)
Judicial work in all courts - Gujarat high court, sessions courts, magisterial courts and family courts - remained paralyzed for the entire day as lawyers abstained from work. Protesting advocates did not allow colleagues and litigants to enter court premises. (Times of India Gujarat)
Lawyers in Allahabad will continue to strike in protest at the killing, reported the Indian Express.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) had issued a call not to follow the strike but to wear white ribbons instead in protest, while offering to extend all help to the family of the deceased lawyer.