Delhi HC lawyers strike against pecuniary jurisdiction increase

The Executive Committee of the Delhi High Court Bar Association has called for a “total abstention of work” in the Delhi High Court. The move comes in the wake of the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill of 2014 being passed by the Rajya Sabha. The Bill effecively raises the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Delhi district courts..A circular issued by the committee states that such abstention will be applicable for 8th and 11th May 2015, with the future course of action to be decided on 11th May..As reported yesterday by Bar & Bench, the passage of the Bill by Rajya Sabha has not gone down well among certain members of the Bar..Even as Rajeev Khosla, President of DHCBA, categorically opposed the call for strike, lawyers were seen shouting at other lawyers and litigants entering Court as to why were they coming to Court when there was an official strike..The scene was no different inside the High Court premises where some lawyers were blocking staircases and physically restraining people from entering the court corridors. Some lawyers had to plead that they needed to go and confirm once whether the Court was sitting or not..Speaking to Bar & Bench one of the affected lawyers said,.“I had to take the next date of adjournment from the Court and they wouldn’t let me enter the corridor. I had to lie and say that I was clerking with a judge for them to allow me inside. This (the strike) is absolutely inconvenient for not just litigants but also for us lawyers.”.In Court No. 2 headed by Justices BD Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva, an aggrieved school teacher prayed before the Bench to grant her an early hearing. She was challenging her suspension order and the date of hearing was scheduled for today. Taking a sympathetic view, the Bench directed her to mention the matter for an early hearing before the concerned Bench..Justice Ahmed remarked that ‘litigants should not be allowed to suffer because of strikes.’ Similar incidents were witnessed in most of the courtrooms. However amidst all this confusion, it was heartening to see Justice Suresh Kaith entertaining pleas of petitioners appearing in person..Interestingly, while the city courts had called of their strike yesterday and expressed satisfaction over the Bill being cleared by the Upper House, there are strong rumours that suggest they may go on strike again in order to ensure passage of the Bill in Lok Sabha as well. In essence, the boycott of courts, be it the High Court or the District Court does not look like it will cease anytime soon..What is crystal clear is that it is the litigant who ends up suffering.