Allahabad High Court asks bar bodies how they will enforce Supreme Court directives prohibiting lawyer strikes

The Allahabad High Court recently directed the Bar Council of India (BCI), the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court Bar Association and other bar associations to outline how they plan to enforce the Supreme Court's directives prohibiting lawyer strikes..The Court was hearing a contempt plea filed against the ongoing strike by advocates in Uttar Pradesh.Counsel representing the District Bar Association, Prayagraj stated that while it acknowledges that strikes are impermissible according to various Supreme Court judgments, it would be beneficial to consult with the Bar Council to develop an effective strategy to eliminate strikes.Counsel for BCI and the State Bar Council sought time to obtain complete instructions on the matter.A Bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Dr Gautam Chowdhary thus directed, "The Bar Council of India as well as the State Bar Council and the respective Bar Associations of the High Court Allahabad and the District Bar Association Prayagraj will file their respective affidavits clearly disclosing the manner in which they propose to ensure compliance of the directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court prohibiting holding of strikes by the lawyers in respective Courts.".During the hearing, the Court was informed that a report from the Registrar General indicated that work in nearly all districts of Uttar Pradesh was severely disrupted due to strikes by advocates.The report will be provided to both the BCI and the State Bar Council, the Court directed.The matter will be heard next on July 16..Senior Advocate RK Ojha represented the District Bar Association, Prayagraj.Advocate Sai Girdhar appeared for the BCI.Advocate Ashok Kumar Tiwari appeared for State Bar Council..Meanwhile, the BCI has scheduled a joint virtual meeting on Sunday, July 14 to address the ongoing strike issue.The Allahabad High Court Bar Association decided to abstain from work on July 10 over the High Court administration's failure to address certain issues plaguing the lawyers, particularly the conduct of certain judges towards the Bar. The strike continued on July 11.In its letter of July 10, the Bar Association had expressed concerns that the current relationship between the judges and lawyers was damaging and affecting the administration of justice.The letter raised the following concerns:- Court conduct of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal;- Behaviour of some other judges towards the lawyers;- Judges do not follow old tradition to revise the list of fresh cases/unlisted cases..[Read Order]