The Allahabad High Court has ruled that any lawyer or lawyers' association going on a strike or giving a call for a strike or abstaining from work on account of condolence due to the death of a lawyer or officer or employee of a court or their relatives would be treated as an ex-facie act of criminal contempt.
The court, however, clarified that lawyers or their associations may call any condolence meeting only after 3:30 pm.
A division bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Gautam Chowdhary directed all the district judges across Uttar Pradesh to report any act of strike by lawyers in their respective courts to the registrar general of the high court, along with the names of the office-bearers of the respective bar association that gave the strike call, so that criminal contempt proceedings are instituted against them.
The court further said these directions should be circulated to all district courts and displayed on the notice boards of all courts throughout the state to ensure strict compliance.
The court issued these directions while dealing with a suo-motu criminal contempt matter, wherein cognisance was taken on a report received from the district judge of Prayagraj, indicating that between July 2023 and April 2024, lawyers in the district court abstained from work or resorted to strike for 127 days out of a total of 218 days.
Observing that the Supreme Court has said in numerous verdicts that lawyers going on a strike is not only contempt of court but also amounts to professional misconduct, the court sought suggestions from the Bar Council of India (BCI), Uttar Pradesh State Bar Council and Allahabad High Court Bar Association to curb the menace of strikes in the district courts of Uttar Pradesh.
In its order dated August 7, the bench also considered a report by the registrar general of the high court, which indicated that the judicial work in the district courts is seriously hampered across Uttar Pradesh due to strike calls given by lawyers.
The matter will now be heard next on September 25.
