Allahabad HC's 7 Judges Bench Takes Serious View Of Kanpur Bar Association's Continued Strike, Directs Its Office Bearers To Appear Before It Tomorrow

Taking serious note of the continued strike of the Kanpur Bar Association and the Lawyers Association, the Allahabad High Court's 7 Judges bench today directed the office bearers of the Associations to appear before the Court tomorrow.

A full bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker, Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani, Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta, Justice Anjani Kumar Mishra, Justice Dr. Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi passed this order after asserting that every strike of the lawyers, causes irreversible damage to the judicial system, particularly to the litigants.

Consequently, the Court directed that notices be served to Naresh Chandra Tripathi, President, Kanpur Bar Association, Anurag Srivastava, General Secretary, Kanpur Bar Association, Ravindra Sharma, President of the Lawyers' Association, Kanpur Nagar and Sharad Kumar Shukla, General Secretary, the Lawyers' Association, Kanpur Nagar through Commissioner of Police, Kanpur Nagar directing them to remain present personally before the Court tomorrow at 10:00 am.

Further, as an interim measure, the Court has directed the lawyers of the district to resume their work forthwith and to purge the contempt. The Court also clarified that in case, any hindrance is created by any of the lawyer or office bearers, the same would be viewed seriously.

It may be noted that the lawyers of the Kanpur district are on continuous strike inter alia to press their demand for the transfer of the district judge Kanpur Nagar.

Initially, they were only boycotting the Court of District & Sessions Judge, Kanpur Nagar, but later on, they extended their boycott to the entire Courts of Kanpur Judgeship since 25th March 2023.

On the administrative side, the Chief Justice and the Administrative Judges of Kanpur Nagar, held meetings separately as well as jointly with the President and the General Secretary of Kanpur Bar Association, Kanpur Nagar, and tried to resolve the issue.

In the said meetings, the President and the General Secretary of the Kanpur Bar Association had earlier given assurance to call off the strike and resume their work, however, they deviated from their assurance and are now threatening to spread the strike in the whole district of Kanpur Nagar in different modes.

Noting that the strike called by the lawyers is hampering the entire judicial work, a full bench sat today to observe thus:

"In the present case, despite sincere efforts being made by this Court, the lawyers are adamant not to perform their work in the Court and their actions are creating hurdles in the dispensation of justice, which is nothing but a sort of contempt of Courts."

Appearing before the Court, the Advocate General today submitted that the strike cannot be supported in any manner and that the lawyers are supposed to work in the Court, and that the strike by lawyers is not only illegal and unethical, but it also causes great hindrance in the dispensation of justice.

It was his further submission that such strikes amount to committing professional misconduct, a breach of contract, a breach of trust, and a breach of professional duty and that the same lead to the wastage of valuable time of the court and hard-earned money of the taxpayers and lower the image of the institution.

Against this backdrop, the full bench sought the presence of the office bearers of the bar and lawyers associations and called upon the lawyers of the district to resume their work.

The Court has also sought the assistance of the Chairman, Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to assist the Court and to remain present tomorrow at 10:00 am before the Court.

The Court further issued the following directions:

- The Advocate General to serve a copy of this order to the District Administration.

- Registrar General of the HC to ensure publication of this order amongst not only the lawyers' community at Kanpur Nagar, but through media also

- The District Magistrate and the Commissioner of Police, Kanpur Nagar to affix this order on the notice board of both the Bar Associations and other conspicuous places inside the Court premises.