“Court cannot sit as mute spectator”, Punjab and Haryana HC pulls up striking lawyers for obstructing litigant entry

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday took critical note of the obstruction faced by litigants owing to the lawyers’ strike against the Central Government notification constituting the Haryana Administrative Tribunal..A Full Bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justices Rajiv Sharma and Rakesh Kumar Jain were unequivocal in expressing its disapproval over the manner in which the strike has unfolded. An interim order passed in the suo motu PIL registered over the issue states,.“It has also been brought to our notice that except for gate No.1 where the Advocates and members of Bar are squatting, all other entry gates have been locked and they have set up a counter at gate No.1 where scanning into urgency of the litigation is being done before permitting the litigants to enter the High Court premises. .This is totally unconstitutional and illegal. A right of the litigant to have access to the Court where his matter is pending cannot be denied and the same amounts to interference in the due administration of justice. We are also informed that even the litigants who intend to file their petitions in person are being stopped forcibly. This Court cannot sit as a mute spectator to all this.“.In particular, the Bench noted that at least three complaints have been made by different litigant parties who faced difficulty entering the High Court because of the protesting lawyers..In a related development, Justice Manoj Bajaj of the High Court also slapped a Rs 50,000 fine on the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, after being informed that the protesting lawyers had denied entry to a party in a habeas corpus case being heard by his Bench..Echoing the observations made by the Full Bench on the same day, Justice Bajaj said,.“This Court cannot ignore the conduct of the striking lawyers who have aggressively implemented their call for strike to paralyze the working of this Court, and violated the fundamental right of the citizens (including litigants) by denying them access to the Court…it is never expected that an Advocate can be insensitive to the rights of the litigants..At times, lawyers as a collective may have a grievance which seldom leads to strike by them and it not only brings the Court working to a standstill, but also puts the interest of the helpless litigants at lurch…”.The judge proceeded to caution that the freedom to call for a strike is not unfettered. Further, the Court also took judicial note of various reports of manhandling by lawyers during the strike..“This Court is presently experiencing this unpleasant situation as the lawyers have gone on strike w.e.f. 26.07.2019. This kind of agitation by Advocates, who have refrained from putting in appearance before the Court may be one of the modes of expressing their own grievance for whatever reason, but the same cannot be construed to be unfettered and absolute, who have wrongfully restrained litigants from approaching the Court. .This Court takes judicial notice of this fact from media reports that on different occasions the striking lawyers have manhandled the litigants, staff of this Court and other citizens, while denying them the entry to the Court premises.“.In view of these observations, Justice Bajaj proceeded to impose costs of Rs 50,000 on the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, before adjourning the case before him..In the meanwhile, the Full Bench posted the matter again today, after also issuing notice to the Bar Association of Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the Union of India. The State of Haryana is already a party to the proceedings. All the parties are expected to appear before the Bench in person today..[Read the Full Bench Order].[Read the order imposing costs passed by Justice Manoj Bajaj]