[Shahjahanpur lawyer murder] BCI directs UP Bar Council to withdraw call for court boycott

The Bar Council of India (BCI) directed the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council to withdraw its call to abstain from court in protest of the killing of a lawyer inside the District Court Complex at Shahjahanpur..While condemning the unfortunate incident, the BCI stressed that in times of distress, abstinence, strike or boycott was not a solution..In fact, the letter pointed out that frequent strikes were weakening State Bar Councils and that strikes by advocates were considered illegal by the Supreme Court.“Rather these frequent strikes are further complicating the issues and weakening the State Bar Councils as strikes are considered illegal by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, when it concerns Advocates, who are considered as officers of the court and as a part of the judicial machinery.”.The BCI assured the State Bar Council that the issue will be taken up with the highest authorities to ensure the implementation of the Advocates Protection Act. It was further stated that the BCI will take up the issue to ensure that all courts implement a way to prevent entry of firearms into court premises.“The Courts all over the country specially in Uttar Pradesh, as requested, should have a mechanism to prevent entry of any person with a fire arms inside court premises and all possible entry and exit points to the court premises should be manned and guarded properly. BCI will certainly raise and take up this issue and try to have such a mechanism put in place by respective State Governments.”.Additionally, the BCI even supported the claim for compensation in favour of the deceased advocate's kin..This direction came in response to a letter by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh asking lawyers of all the bar associations in the State to abstain from judicial work today, in protest of the killing of Advocate Bhupendra Singh, who was allegedly shot dead inside the court complex with a country-made firearm..[Read Letter Here]