The Allahabad High Court on Monday took judicial notice of the call for a further three-day strike by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in protest of the non-inclusion of any judicial officer in the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the state government to look into the incident of alleged police violence on lawyers at Hapur. While stating that lawyers’ strikes create huge losses to the litigants, a division bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi said that “the representative body of advocates have the right to raise grievance on behalf of their members but it has to be in a manner that the ultimate cause of justice itself is not defeated”.
“As responsible citizens and soldiers of the justice dispensation system, we expect the lawyers and their representative bodies to be conscious of their obligations to the Society at large and act in a responsible manner,” said the bench.
Before the division bench, Ashok Singh, president, High Court Bar Association, submitted that the state’s action in the incident was wholly one-sided and despite the best efforts of the lawyers, their FIR has not been lodged to date.
He alleged that atrocities were actually committed by the local administration and that the local police had assaulted the lawyers.
It was Singh’s argument that if the SIT, as it is at present, is allowed to proceed, it would cause great injustice to lawyers because the guilty police personnel shall be the judge in their own cause.
Taking note of the submissions made, the court called upon Manish Goyal, additional advocate general to examine the feasibility of the inclusion of a judicial officer in the SIT, “so as to make the body more inclusive and transparent”.
After obtaining instructions from the state government, the AAG informed the court that it has no objection to the inclusion of a judicial officer in the SIT and has suggested the names of three judicial officers of the rank of district judge.
While putting out a serious view over the culture of strikes by lawyers, the court directed the state government to include Hari Nath Pandey, Retd. Principal Judge, Family Court, Lucknow as a member of the SIT constituted by the state.
“The SIT will proceed to conduct its enquiry and submit its report in a sealed cover at the earliest possible. An interim report shall be submitted before the Court by the next date fixed,” ordered the HC.
Moreover, the court ordered the superintendent of police, Hapur, to ensure that the complaint lodged by the advocates of the incident is also duly registered and investigated as per law.
“We hope and trust that the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh as also the respective Bar Associations across the State as well as this Court and its Bench at Lucknow shall introspect and act in due deference to the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India such that this Court is not required to take any unpleasant steps in the matter and forthwith resume their work,” said the bench while posting the matter for further hearing on September 15, 2023.
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