Allahabad HC- Boycott Of The Court And Subsequent Conduct Amounts To “Criminal Contempt”: Justice Sudhir Agarwal To Chief Justice (Read Letter)

Amidst the ongoing confrontation between the Bar and the Bench at the Allahabad High Court, Justice Sudhir Agarwal, on Friday, wrote a letter to the Chief Justice, expressing his desire to initiate appropriate actions against the members of the Bar involved in the strike.

Justice Agarwal opined that the conduct of the lawyers involved in the strike amounted to criminal contempt and was a “veiled threat to the Court”.

Narrating the incident, Justice Agarwal brought to the notice of the Chief Justice that no Counsel appeared before the Court and that the corridor outside the Courtroom remained crowded with Advocates who were creating disturbance and raising slogans.

According to the letter, Advocate Anil Tiwari, the President of the High Court Bar Association, accompanied by the Secretary, Mr. Suresh Chandra Pandey, later, entered his chamber and informed him that the Advocates working on the criminal side were agitated because of the assignment given to the Bench headed by Justice Agarwal, and further advised him to abstain from attending the cases if advocates were not attending.

“Statement made by Sri Anil Tiwari and the Advocates accompanying him regarding possible disturbance of peace and harmony as also with respect to smooth functioning of the Court if I do not agree to their suggestion, was a veiled threat to Court if it continues to work, (sic)” the letter thereafter stated.

Clarifying that he did not intend to lay down any code of conduct for the Advocates, Justice Agarwal emphasized on the unacceptability of their conduct in a scenario where an unfavorable order is passed by a Judge.

“Here the competence and capacity of the concerned Judicial Officer has been attempted to be maligned commenting upon his integrity and honesty. It deserves to be condemned in the strongest words. No one can justify it any manner. Thinking of intrusion of such thought itself sounds alert. It is a siren of something which is not only very serious, but imminent. It is a concept or an idea which should not have cropped up, deserves to be nipped at earliest, else, it may spreads its tentacles to cover others and that would be a dooms day for the very institution.(sic),” he said.