P&H High Court Bar Association calls for strike over LADCS, lawyers raise slogans outside CJ's court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association on Tuesday called for an immediate work suspension at the High Court in protest against the implementation of the Legal Aid Defence Counsel System (LADCS).

The decision was taken at a general house meeting called to discuss the ongoing strike of lawyers of district bar associations in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh against LADCS.

The bar body said the work shall remain suspended till July 30 in support of the Joint Action Committee of Bar Associations of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

A notice announcing the work suspension came soon after the benches had reassembled after lunch break. When the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor was informed about the decision, the Court allowed a counsel, who was in middle of arguments, to halt her submissions.

"We don't want to put you to any inconvenience," the ACJ told the lawyer.

However, the Court also said that it will not rise, and will continue hearing matters. The courtroom emptied soon as news about work suspension spread among lawyers.

Meanwhile, various lawyers gathered outside the courtroom 1, raising slogans of "Sadda Haq, Aithe Rakh".

The protest also carried an added edge of resentment against the ACJ himself, with lawyers demanding an apology from him after he had earlier remarked that lawyers were "shamelessly" blocking the courts.

Today, the High Court Bar Association also resolved to issue a show cause notice to advocate Arvind Seth for filing a PIL challenging the ongoing strike. It also urged the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana to suspend the licenses of all LADCS counsel across the region.

Various bar associations in the region have been on strike against the LADCS for past many weeks.

They allege that the LADCS has created a parallel State-funded criminal defence system which was affecting the practice of independent advocates.

A substantial number of criminal matters are now handled by LADCS and are also given preference by courts at bail and remand stage, the lawyers have claimed.

The High Court yesterday issued a circular to address some of the grievances highlighted by the lawyers but made it clear that there would no rollback of the scheme since it is being implemented across the country.