Delhi lawyers to strike over Tis Hazari clash; get support from other states

Lawyers of Delhi High Court and all lower courts in the city will strike from work on Monday to protest the violence by the police against their colleagues on Saturday at the Tis Hazari courts complex, officials of several bar associations said.

At least 50 people were injured, including two advocates hit by gunshots, and many parked vehicles burned and vandalised after a dispute over parking at the Tis Hazari courts in north Delhi on Saturday snowballed into a violent clash between the police and lawyers.

The secretary of the Delhi Bar Association, Jaiveer Singh Chauhan, said lawyers would abstain from work in all the district courts and they would decide the further course of action after the meeting of the representatives of the various bar associations.

“We would abstain from work in all district courts and a final call would be taken after a meeting which is scheduled for 4pm tomorrow. We want the arrest of the police officers as it is a cognizable offence,” Delhi Bar Association’s secretary, Jaiveer Singh Chauhan, said.

“We are getting a lot of support from all the other bar associations of the different states including Rajasthan, Punjab and Chandigarh. All the lawyers would abstain from work,” Chauhan said.

The chairperson of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD), KC Mittal, also said they will take feedback from the lawyers and then decide upon their further course of action.

Karan Singh, the ex-secretary and vice-president of the New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA) said lawyers at Patiala House Court will also strike and they would ensure that no untoward incident takes place.

Naginder Benipal, the member executive of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, said lawyers would not work in Delhi HC in solidarity with those injured.

However, lawyers at the Supreme Court will work on Monday.

“We would not abstain from work but to show our anguish and solidarity, we will hold a protest march from the Supreme Court to India Gate. Lawyers would also wear a white band on their arm as a mark of protest,” the Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) secretary, Preeti Singh, said.

Delhi High Court on Sunday constituted a judicial committee to be headed by retired Justice SP Garg to conduct an inquiry within six weeks into Saturday’s violence between policemen and lawyers.

The high court also directed Delhi Police commissioner to transfer two senior officers — special commissioner of police (law and order) Sanjay Singh and additional deputy commissioner of police Harendra Kumar Singh — for ordering the firing and their alleged role in the incident.

Till late Sunday night, the two officers were yet to be transferred.

The Bar Council of India (BCI), in a statement, welcomed the high court’s order directing a judicial inquiry into Saturday’s clash as it urged lawyers to “maintain peace and harmony” and not to abstain from work on Tuesday.

“In view of the quick and positive step taken by the Delhi High Court in the sensitive matter for redressal of grievances of the Bar, the Bar Council of India appeals to the advocates of the country to maintain peace and harmony and not to resort to any sort of abstention or boycott of courts from Tuesday, November 5,” BCI’s chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra said in a statement.

It said BCI and the bar associations were “satisfied” with the high court’s order and that the bench comprising Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar “substantially” accepted the submissions made by the council.