The Bar Council of India has written to the Bar Council of Delhi, directing and requesting that the Coordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi withdraw the call for complete abstinence from judicial work by lawyers in District Courts across the State on November 9, 2021, as soon as possible.
According to the letter, the Coordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi unanimously resolved on November 8th to go on complete work abstinence in the District Courts on November 9th in protest of the recent judgement of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mr Gajender Singh Nagar, of the Tis Hazari Court, convicting former Delhi High Court Bar Association President Mr Rajiv Khosla for assaulting a woman laureate.
The subject would also be discussed by the Co-ordination Committee with the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, according to BCI. It asked the Delhi State Bar Council to instruct the Coordination Committee to remove their proposal for an indefinite boycott of a Judicial Officer if the problem they are protesting is not handled to their satisfaction.
Strikes, which are regarded unlawful by the Supreme Court of India when it comes to Advocates, who are considered officials of the court and a component of the judicial machinery, complicate matters and weaken the Advocates fraternity, according to BCI.
In the matter of District Bar Association Dehradun through its Secretary vs. Shri Ishwar Shandilya & Ors, the Supreme Court issued a decision. "Abstaining and resorting to strikes or attempting to subvert the judicial machinery by pressurising to change a judicial decision by way of abstaining from court work/strikes, by the boycott of a judicial officer, and/or by trying to procure any other order/decision in any manner which is against the concepts and tenets and procedures of codified law, is not in any way the correct or legal course of action," the letter stated.
The Committee's line of action, according to the letter submitted to the Chairman and Secretary of the Delhi Bar Council, is not a lawful option. Additionally, as forerunners of the legal system, As a matter of practice and procedure, the legal profession is required to do the right thing by Mr Rajiv Khosla by providing legal help in filing an appeal against the impugned decision and verdict, as well as availing of all other legal remedies available under the law.
"Calling on all members of the Bar to abstain from judicial work in District Courts across the State for one day, and then resolving to boycott the judicial officer indefinitely if the discussion with Hon'ble Chief Justice of Delhi does not go as they desire, will not go down well with the litigant public, the common masses, or the judiciary," the letter states.
The Bar Council of India, through its Secretary, Mr Srimanto Sen, has also stressed that while submissions of any kind may be given over as planned and any legal proceedings taken, there should be no interference with judicial and court business.