E-Paper
Lawyers threaten stir if physical hearings don’t resume by Jan 11
All representatives of Bar associations of Punjab and Haryana who met on Sunday said video conferencing was not effective and satisfactory
Bar Associations of Punjab and Haryana courts will launch an agitation in case no decision is taken to start physical hearings – suspended after the Covid-19 outbreak – by January 11, association members decided at a meeting on Sunday.
Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association will also observe a hunger strike on Monday in support of the same demand.
All representatives at the meeting convened by Karanjit Singh, chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, wanted the physical hearings to resume immediately. Video conferencing was not effective and satisfactory, they added.
Lawyers said they as well as their staff and litigants had been hit badly by the closure of courts.
Advocate general, Punjab, Atul Nanda also suggested that courts be opened in a phased manner for physical hearing, with 100% functioning by March.
‘No confrontational approach’
However, he said, “we have passed through an unprecedented phase and the vaccine may take some time... so we should not have a confrontational approach.”
Almost all the speakers at Sunday’s meeting were in favour of a strike. A decision was then taken to set up an action committee of 15 members and headed by the chairman of the Bar Council. It would then coordinate with all Bars to take necessary decisions.
The committee would also meet the chief justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court and request him to give specific directions to all the district and sessions judges in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to list all the cases in courts.
It was also resolved that if no decision was taken to start physical hearings by January 11, the action committee should take recourse to agitation, the manner of which would be decided by the action committee.
