Judicial work adversely hit in UP due to lawyers' strike in protest against Hapur lathicharge

Judicial work in the Allahabad High Court as well as in the district courts of Uttar Pradesh has been adversely hit for the last 15 days due to a strike by lawyers protesting against the lack of any positive decision by the government regarding an incident of lathicharge on advocates in Hapur.

While the lawyers of the high court continue to abstain from judicial work on a call from the High Court Bar Association, advocates across the state are on strike on a call from the state bar council.

One of the lawyers, Rajiv Singh, said although the Allahabad High Court has made arrangements for hearing cases virtually since last Tuesday, most of the advocates are coming to the court premises but avoiding attending virtual hearings.

The situation is similar in the district courts.

There will be a meeting of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in the evening, in which the future strategy will be discussed and decided, an office-bearer of the lawyers' body said.

Lawyers in Uttar Pradesh are on strike since August 30 after the incident of lathicharge on their colleagues in the Hapur court complex the day before.

A government spokesperson in Lucknow said the committee headed by Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta, set up on the high court's directions to look into the grievances raised at the bar in respect of the Hapur incident, will hold its meeting in Allahabad on Saturday.

Last week, a bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwakar and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi heard the arguments of council chairman Shiv Kishore Gaur, member-secretary Jai Narayan Pandey and member Madhusudan Tripathi on the Hapur incident, following which the committee under the chairmanship of Justice Gupta was set up.

The committee will also have Justice Rajan Rai, Justice Mohammad Faiz Alam Khan, the advocate general of Uttar Pradesh or his nominee and the presidents of the state bar council and High Court Bar Association as its members, the bench had stated.