Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association decides to call off strike, will resume work from tomorrow

The Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association on Tuesday decided to call off their indefinite strike, which had started on November 17 to protest the proposed transfer of Justice Nikhil S Kariel to Patna High Court. .Advocate Hardik Brahmbhatt, the secretary of GHCAA, confirmed the development to Bar & Bench."Our general body met today morning. We have decided to call off the strike. But this will be from tomorrow (Wednesday). We will continue to abstain from work even today," he said.The GHCAA representatives will be meeting Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar to inform him about the development.The GHCAA has been staging a protest since Thursday last week following the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium to transfer Justice Nikhil Kariel.A delegation of seven members of the GHCAA met CJI Chandrachud on Monday to voice their concerns over the proposed transfer.The CJI asked the bar to call off their strike and also assured them that the Supreme Court Collegium will look into the issues raised by the lawyers' body against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel..Subsequently, the GHCAA's general body met today morning. .The 7-member delegation, which met CJI Chandrachud yesterday, apprised the Bar members of what transpired in the said meeting."We place on record our appreciation for the cordial audience given by the Chief Justice of India and the other two members of the Collegium. We must inform the Bar that the CJI underlined to us the fact that the issue of the transfer of Justice Kariel would be thoroughly examined, with inputs from all sources, including the representation made by the GHAA," the Bar was told.The CJI was of the view that the current strike would be a hindrance to this decision making process and that the same should be withdrawn forthwith, the delegation members told the general body of GHCAA.The assurance given by the CJI to examine this issue in it's entirety leads us to recommend that the present strike be suspended, said advocate Prithviraj Jadeja, the interim-President of GHCAA."The GHCAA is committed to the issue raised by us. Equally, a solution within the constitutional frame work is the most desirable outcome. Therefore, given due weightage to the views of the CJI and his assurance to examine the issue in all it's aspects, in that view the present strike be suspended," Jadeja underscored.Subsequently, the Bar held a voting to decide on when they should resume work and most advocates voted for resuming work from Wednesday morning.Pertinently, the GHCAA also condemned the transfer of another Gujarat High Court judge, Justice VM Pancholi."We have decided to pass a resolution to condemn the transfer of Justice VM Pancholi to Patna High Court. We will conduct a meeting for passing this resolution on Wednesday," Jadeja added..The Telangana High Court Advocates Association, which was also similarly protesting the proposed transfer of Justice A Abhishek Reddy to Patna High Court, had also called off their strike after meeting the CJI.