M A I N   N E W S

Bar reacts strongly
Restoration of work to three Judges
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28
In just over 24 hours after work was restored to three High Court Judges, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association today unanimously resolved to boycott the court of the High Court Chief Justice for restoring work, as also the visit of the Chief Justice of India to the city on Thursday and to Hoshiarpur the next day.

The association members also resolved to hold an all-India conference in November just after the Bar Council elections for pursuing their demand of transferring all local Judges from High Courts all over the country.

In a “stormy” general house meeting, the members also decided to file a petition seeking the review of a judgement recently pronounced by a Division Bench holding strikes by lawyers illegal.

They also decided to issue notice to Dr Surya Parkash asking him to show cause why he should not be dismembered from the association for filing a writ petition in the High Court challenging the withdrawal of work from the three Judges.

A list of all the cases, in which judgement was reserved over six months back, would also be prepared, the lawyers resolved. They also claimed that certain High Court Judges were humiliating the advocates in the court rooms. A strong attack was made on certain senior Judges in particular.

Upset over the latest development, the advocates, one after the other, asserted that the Chief Justice had either committed a mistake in withdrawing the work in the very first place or by restoring it at a later stage.

They added that neither the reasons for withdrawing the work from the Judges were made public, nor were the reasons for restoring it. “We were given the impression that the Chief Justice had enough material with him to prove the involvement of the Judges in the Punjab Public Service Commission recruitment scam. What made him change his opinion overnight, the CJ must explain,” they insisted. The members added that both the High Court Chief Justice and the Chief Justice of India were a party to the decision to withdraw work, and restore it.

Claiming that the decision to restore the work and the judgement declaring strikes illegal were inter-related, the members asserted that the “Judges have pushed the lawyers into a situation where they cannot even protest”.

Giving details, they added that the judgement on strikes was pronounced just before the order restoring work to the three Judges was issued, in order to ensure that the lawyers were not even able to protest against the order of restoration.

Regarding the filing of the review petition against the judgement on strikes, the advocates stated that going on a strike was their fundamental right and in the interest of the public.

“Normally the lawyers and other professionals should not abstain from work, but certain issues of vital public interest just cannot be ignored and as such it was essential to go on strike”, they said.

Referring to a recent strike by the lawyers in protest against the Judges’ involvement in the PPSC scam, advocate Rupinder Khosla maintained that it was “not only in the interest of the High Court, but of the entire nation”.

Advocate Surinder Lamba added that the lawyers were being asked to compensate the clients from their own pockets, “but will the High Court Judges pay compensation if their decisions were reversed by the Supreme Court ?”

Seeking the transfer of all local Judges, Mr Bhim Sen Sehgal claimed in a booming voice that “more than 70 per cent corruption would come to an end with their shifting”.

They also blamed the Judges for humiliating them. The explanation the Judges were giving was simple — you insult us in the bar room, we will take care of you in the court room, the lawyers claimed.

“If this kind of a situation was allowed to continue, problems between the Bench and the Bar would increase”, advocate Navkiran Singh asserted.

Asking the advocates to draw up a list of all the cases in which judgements were reserved over six months ago, advocate Ishwar Singh Balhara added that this way they would be able to gauge the functioning of the Judges.

Concluding the meeting, High Court Bar Association President Hawa Singh Hooda added that with the restoration of work they were, unfortunately, back to square one. Regarding the transfer of local Judges, he added that the all-India conference should be held in November. The other speakers included Mr H.S. Gill and Mr Tahar Singh.