Kerala High Court dismisses cases after lawyers fail to appear due to strike against court fee hike

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sharply criticised the lawyers' strike called by the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA) against a proposed hike in court fees, terming such abstention from court work unethical and preposterous [Jimmy Elias v Elizabeth Jasmine & ors and other cases]..The Bench comprising Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Easwaran S proceeded to dismiss several matters listed before it after advocates failed to appear or represent litigants on account of the strike.The Court took strong exception to the boycott, particularly since a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the controversial court fee hike is already pending before the Chief Justice's Bench."The call to lawyers to boycott courts on an issue concerning enhancement of court fees by the State government cannot be seen as anything but illegal and preposterous. This is more so when we are given to understand that a Public Interest Litigation on the same issue was moved, and is currently pending consideration, before the Chief Justice's Court," the Court said. .The Bench also objected to the tone of a letter sent by the KHCAA President to the Chief Justice to inform him about Wednesday's boycott. The Court found that the letter included unwanted advice and subtle threats, reflecting a lack of respect and decorum."While the letter in itself is distasteful as regards its contents, it also manifests a serious breach of the decorum that is expected to be maintained in this hallowed institution. Letters addressed by an Association of Advocates to the Chief Justice of the High Court cannot take the form of gratuitous sermons interspersed with veiled threats," the Court said. .Notably, the letter addressed to the Chief Justice had suggested that judges could use time on Wednesday to finish penning judgments that they have reserved."The KHCAA brings your Lordship's attention to the fact that most courts have 'reserved' many judgments and we hope the Judges will fruitfully use 9 April 2025 to pen down a few Judgments," the letter had said..Earlier today, a large number of lawyers practicing before the Kerala High Court abstained from court work following the KHCAA's call to protest a hike in court fees. .The Kerala Finance Bill of 2025, which raised the court fees in the State, came into force on April 1. The fee hike has been challenged by the KHCAA by way of a PIL as well, which is yet to be heard. .Today, upon inquiry, Government Pleaders present in court informed Justices Nambiar and Easwaran that the lawyers' mass absence from courts was due to the protest called by the KHCAA.The Court, in turn, observed that it had no obligation to adjourn cases due to such strikes and that office-bearers responsible for such court boycotts could face contempt proceedings. In this regard, reference was made to the Supreme Court's judgments in Ex-Capt Harish Uppal v Union of India [(2003) and Krishnakant Tamrakar v State of Madhya Pradesh (2018).The High Court Bench proceeded to dismiss cases in which no lawyers appeared, although it granted liberty to the litigants to file applications for case restoration within one month."We cannot find it in ourselves to condone instances of non-representation of the cases listed before us today. We therefore dismiss the above cases without prejudice to the right of the litigant to seek restoration of the same within a period of one month from today, on showing sufficient cause for the non-representation today as also by demonstrating their readiness to argue the matter on the day the application for restoration comes up for consideration before this court," the Court said. .[Read Judgement]