Lawyers skip work in HC

Only a handful of petitions were heard by judges in the High Court on Monday, as a large section of the advocates abstained from work.

The advocates were showing solidarity with the lawyers’ fraternity across the country in condemning the killing of an advocate by a policeman on the Allahabad court premises recently.

R V Sreerama Reddy, secretary, Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) said that almost all advocates from the lower courts, including the sessions, magistrate and civil courts, had abstained from work.  P P Hegde, chairman, Karnataka State Bar Council, in a statement, demanded that Rs 50 lakh be paid as compensation to the family of the deceased advocate and investigation against the accused be conducted by the CBI within three months.   

Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar expressed displeasure over the abstention, saying that the advocates were punishing their clients.

He said that the Supreme Court had ruled that it was illegal for advocates to go on strike or abstain from work.

“The court works for only 180 days in a year. Any protest  can be held on the 185 non-working days. They should have chosen a holiday, instead of a working day,” he said.