The Allahabad High Court has ruled that any lawyer or lawyers' association going on a strike or giving a call for a strike or abstaining from work on account of condolence due to the death of a lawyer or officer or employee of a 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 pm.
A division bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Gautam Chowdhary directed all the district judges across Uttar Pradesh to report any act of strike by lawyers in their respective courts to the registrar general of the high court, along with the names of the office-bearers of the respective bar association that gave the strike call, so that criminal contempt proceedings are instituted against them.
The court further said these directions should 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-motu criminal contempt matter, wherein cognisance was taken on a report received from the district judge of Prayagraj, indicating that between July 2023 and April 2024, lawyers in the district court abstained from work or resorted to strike for 127 days out of a total of 218 days.
Observing that the Supreme Court has said in numerous verdicts that lawyers going on a strike is not only contempt of court but also amounts to professional misconduct, the court sought suggestions from the Bar Council of India (BCI), Uttar Pradesh State Bar Council and Allahabad High Court Bar Association to curb the menace of strikes in the district courts of Uttar Pradesh.
In its order dated August 7, the bench also considered a report by the registrar general of the high court, which indicated that the judicial work in the district courts is seriously hampered across Uttar Pradesh due to strike calls given by lawyers.
The matter will now be heard next on September 25.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Abhishek And Aishwarya Made Rare Appearance Together At Daughter's School Function
High Court Judge Appears Before Top Court Collegium Over "Majority" Remarks 55 Rajya Sabha MPs' Demand Impeachment In High Court Judge's "Majority" Remarks Row Row Over High Court Judge's "India Will Run By Wishes Of Majority" Comment Video: Bird's-Eye View Of Devastation After Jaipur Accident That Killed 12 Hardeep Puri vs Shashi Tharoor Over 2009 Dinner With George Soros In US Suspected Car Attack On German Christmas Market Injures Up To 80 Volkswagen To Cut 35,000 Jobs In Germany By 2030 Suspected Car Attack On German Christmas Market Injures Up To 80 16-Year-Old JEE Student From Bihar Found Hanging From Fan In Kota: Police Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.