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Bhatia?s candidature for RS welcomed
LAWYERS? ORGANISATIONS welcomed the decision of the Samajwadi Party to field former Advocate-General of Uttar Pradesh Virendra Bhatia as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from UP. Lawyers termed the candidature of Bhatia as an honour to the entire legal fraternity of the State. They also congratulated Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for selecting a lawyer for the membership of Rajya Sabha .
LAWYERS’ ORGANISATIONS welcomed the decision of the Samajwadi Party to field former Advocate-General of Uttar Pradesh Virendra Bhatia as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from UP.
Lawyers termed the candidature of Bhatia as an honour to the entire legal fraternity of the State. They also congratulated Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for selecting a lawyer for the membership of Rajya Sabha as according to them this decision had enhanced the dignity of legal fraternity of the State.
Former chairman of the Bar Council of India and senior advocate of Allahabad High Court, VC Mishra, while welcoming the candidature of Bhatia, said it would certainly strengthen the institution of legislature as Parliament makes laws.
“When lawyers are elected to the legislature, good laws would be legislated. At present, in the absence of lawyers, Parliamentarians have to mostly depend upon bureaucrats for making laws. To get rid of this, maximum number of lawyers should be sent to Parliament,” he said.
“Since Bhatia is former Advocate General and a noted lawyer, the decision of the Samajwadi Party to make him its candidate for Rajya Sabha is a welcome step”, VC Mishra said.
Member and former Chairman of Bar Council of UP Birendra Kumar Srivastava also welcomed the shifting of Bhatia from Advocate-General to Rajya Sabha.
He said Bhatia’s valuable services and performance were highly appreciated by the legal fraternity because he proved himself a bridge between the court and members of the Bar.
“All demands of lawyers were readily accepted by Bhatia as AG and he became instrumental in getting the same fulfilled by the chief minister,” Srivastava said.
Recalling Bhatia’s contribution as AG, Srivastava said initially Bhatia played an important role in getting Rs 15 crore sanctioned from the State budget for the construction of chambers of lawyers. In 2005, the said amount was increased to Rs 30 crore. And in 2006, the amount was raised to Rs 50 crore.
Apart from this, construction of Adhivakta Bhawan in UP and 500 square yard land in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, for the same purpose were some of the other contributions of this government for lawyers. “It is Bhatia alone, whose hectic persuasion ultimately prevailed and the government conceded the lawyers’ demands,” Srivastava said.
Meanwhil, Hindi Vidhi Sevi Sansthan, a lawyers’ organisation, held a meeting on Friday expressing happiness over the selection of Virendra Bhatia as the Samajwadi Party candidate for Rajya Sabha election from UP.
The meeting, held under the chairmanship of Harbansh Singh, former vice-president of High Court Bar Association, and conducted by former treasurer of HC Bar Association Shree Rang Pandey, said this was a matter of pride for the legal fraternity of the State as one of its members had been chosen for the membership of Rajya Sabha.
Addressing the meeting, State secretary of Samajwadi Adhivakta Sabha, Vinay Pratap Singh Yadav, recalled that under the tenure of Bhatia several welfare schemes were undertaken by the Samajwadi Party government for the welfare of lawyers.
The speakers said that in the present State budget Rs 50 crore had been earmarked for the construction of lawyers chambers. With the government aid Adhivakta Bhawan was under construction on the premises of the headquarters of the Bar Council of UP, the apex body of the lawyers in the State.
Special train for New Delhi
IN ORDER to cater to heavy rush of passengers owing to the festival of Holi, the North Central Railway administration has decided to run a special train between Allahabad and New Delhi. The train No 0259 will leave Allahabad Junction station on March 19 at 11.45 pm and reach New Delhi the next day at 10.10 am. via Kanpur, Tundla, Aligarh and Ghaziabad. On return journey, Train No 0260 will leave New Delhi on March 20 at 11.30 am and reach Allahabad at 9.50 pm via the same route.
