Lawyers protest in Lucknow over Advocates Protection Act, other demands

Advocates breach barricades, stage a sit-in near Assembly gate; warn of a massive stir if their demands are not met within 15 days

Hundreds of lawyers in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow took to the streets on Saturday, breaching barricades and moving towards Vidhan Bhavan to press for their eight-point charter of demands, including implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Advocates Protection Act.

Lawyers during a protest over their eight-point demand in Lucknow on November 14. (HT photo)

The lawyers gathered at the Kaisarbagh court premises around 10 am before marching towards the Assembly. Police personnel attempted to stop them by putting up barricades. However, the protesters refused to retreat, leading to heated exchanges between the two sides.

The lawyers eventually breached the barricades and continued their march towards the Assembly gate, where they staged a sit-in and raised slogans. They also pulled down iron barricades, bamboo barriers and metal fencing. Some were purportedly seen carrying away police barricades in videos circulating on social media.

The demonstration followed a joint general body meeting of the Central Bar Association and Lucknow Bar Association held on November 13 under Central Bar Association president Akhilesh Jaiswal and Lucknow Bar Association president GN Shukla. The meeting was convened under the direction of the two associations’ general secretaries Avneesh Dixit and Jitendra Singh Yadav.

Following the demonstration, Central Bar Association general secretary Avneesh Dixit said a massive state-level lawyers’ mahapanchayat would be organised in Lucknow if the government failed to take an early decision on their demands.

The protest was called off after the delegation submitted a memorandum to joint commissioner of police (law and order) Babloo Kumar. “The memorandum was accepted and the situation remains under control,” the JCP said. However, the lawyers warned they would gherao the chief minister’s residence if the government failed to address their demands within 15 days.

Dixit said the large participation in Saturday’s protest reflected the unity of advocates and warned that lawyers from across Uttar Pradesh would be brought together for a bigger mobilisation if their demands were not met. “Advocates’ unity is our strength, and the fight for our rights is our resolve,” he said.

“We have taken to the streets to fight for our rights, but the police misbehaved with us,” claimed a protesting lawyer Karan Sharma. Another protestor, Ashutosh, said the agitation would continue until the government accepted their demands.

The demands

As per a press release and the memorandum shared by the bar association, their first demand is immediate implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Advocates Protection Act. The lawyers also demand completion of the old tehsil complex, spread over approximately 80,000 square feet, where parking facilities and courtrooms are proposed.

Another demand concerns parking facilities at the transport department workshop located opposite the court premises. They demands include an increase in the Advocate Welfare Fund amount from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh.

Another key demand is installation of CCTV cameras in courtrooms of all district courts across Uttar Pradesh within a month.