The Court emphasised that strikes by advocates impede judicial work and that bar members should instead use a forum to air legitimate issues.
In the case of District Bar Association of Dehradun v. Ishwar Shandilya and Others, the Supreme Court issued an order on Thursday directing the creation of grievance redressal bodies at the High Court level.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and Ahsanuddin Amanullah stressed that strikes by bar associations have often caused the interruption of judicial work and noted that there should be a place where any bar member who has any real issues can ventilate them.
The Court subsequently ordered the creation of grievance redressal committees at the High Court level, which will be composed of the Chief Justice and two senior judges from the relevant High Court, one of whom must be from the bar and the other from service.
“We affirm that no bar employee may strike. This has occurred repeatedly, though. The Court ruled that if any bar member has a legitimate grievance, that person should have access to a place where they can be spoken.
The decision was made in a dispute over three District Bar Associations of Uttarakhand’s practise of calling for strikes and boycotts of courts on each working Saturday.
The petitioners had claimed that the Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar District Bar Associations had been engaging in the practise for up to 35 years.
The Supreme Court had concluded in 2020 that the same cannot be justified and is not protected by the Constitution’s Article 19(1)(a) guarantee of freedom of speech or repression.
The District Bar Associations had received criticism from the Court for continuing this practise for 35 years, emphasising that the ultimate victim of these strikes is the plaintiff.
SUBMITTED BY NEHA A. PARDESHI/4TH Year BLS LLB/TRCL
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