Delhi HCBA extends strike till Monday even as Red FM decision expected on Sunday

The Delhi High Court will see yet another day of sparsely populated corridors and adjournments. The Executive Committee of the DHCBA today decided to continue the “abstention of work” till Monday..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Secretary of Delhi High Court Bar Association Abhijat said that the strike will go on till Monday..When asked to comment about the hearing which took place in the Red FM matter today Abhijat said,.“We had not enforced the strike because it was a Saturday and also due to the urgency in this particular case. But the strike will continue on Monday and the situation will be reviewed on Monday evening.”.Meanwhile, a Division Bench had decided yesterday that they would hear the Red FM Auction dispute today. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued at length over the issue. Their primary submissions were centred around the issue of security clearance being denied to Red FM by terming them as a ‘threat to national security.’.Both of them submitted that regardless of the Government’s interpretation of the relevant tender clauses that were used to deny them the certificate, Red FM was a company that had been operating since the year 2000 in the entertainment industry and its rights were squarely protected under Article 19 (1) (g) and 19 (2)..While the Bench said that it needed time to write the judgment,yet again it proposed a postponement of auctions to the Union’s counsels. However, after a the Union’s counsel said that postponing the auction would cause major difficulties to all participants, the Bench agreed to pronounce the order tomorrow I.e. Sunday..So in a rare occasion warranted by the ongoing strike and coupled with the urgency in the said dispute, Justices BD Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva will pronounce their judgment on Red FM’s eligibility to participate in the Phase III Auctions on Monday..The Bench has decided to pass an order and give detailed reasons later because the auction is scheduled to begin on Monday at 9. 30 am and the Government had informed the Court that the software had to be configured 12 hours prior to the auction. The order is expected to be announced at 11.30 am tomorrow.