DAYS after a Delhi court convicted former president of Delhi High Court Bar Association Rajiv Khosla of assaulting a woman lawyer, the Coordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi has threatened to go on strike on Tuesday and to boycott the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Gajendra Singh Nagar, who convicted him, if the matter is not resolved as per their wishes.
The woman lawyer, Sujata Kohli, retired last year as the District and Sessions Judge, Delhi.
Taking note of the threat of strike, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has directed the Delhi Bar Council to ensure that the Coordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi withdraws the call for strike on Tuesday against the order passed by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Central District, Tis Hazari Court, holding Khosla guilty of assaulting Kohli in 1994.
CMM Nagar last month found Khosla guilty of offences under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506(i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The matter is listed on November 15 for hearing arguments on the quantum of punishment.
Taking exception to the verdict, the Coordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi, on Monday, decided to go on complete abstinence of work in all the district courts for one day on Tuesday, and also resolved to have a meeting with the Chief Justice (CJ) of Delhi High Court to discuss the matter. The Committee further warned that if the matter was not resolved after meeting with the CJ, it would observe the complete indefinite boycott of the court of CMM, Nagar.
Unprofessional conduct
The BCI has, in a communication to the state bar council, said that the course of action proposed by the Coordination Committee of All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi is not the legal recourse available as per the law.
“Being harbingers of the legal process, practice and procedure, the lawyers’ fraternity is expected to do the needful not through strike and agitation but by way of providing legal assistance to Mr. Rajiv Khosla to file an appeal against the impugned order and judgment and to avail of all other legal remedies available under the law, as Mr Khosla is aggrieved of the referred order and judgment”, the BCI’s letter addressed to the Chairman and Secretary of the Bar Council of Delhi reads.
It added that such a threat would not go down well with the litigant public, the common masses, and the judiciary.
The BCI also warned that such a tactic to pressure the judiciary would be seen as a sign of distress.
Supreme Court on strike by lawyers
The issue of strike by lawyers has never found favor with the judiciary, in particular, the Supreme Court. In Ex-Capt. Harish Uppal vs. Union of India (2003), the top court held that the lawyers had no right to strike or even go on a token strike or give a call for a strike.
Last year, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the fact that despite the Court’s order, lawyers and Bar Associations are still indulging in strikes. It observed “A day has now come for the Bar Council of India and the Bar Councils of the States to step in and to take concrete steps. It is the duty of the Bar Councils to ensure that there is no unprofessional and unbecoming conduct by any lawyer”.
Earlier this year, the BCI informed the apex court that it was in the process of framing the rules to curtail strikes by lawyers and to take action against bar associations that call for such strikes.
The matter is still pending before the Supreme Court.
UPDATED (November 10):
The Delhi Bar Association has decided to constitute a fact-finding committee comprising ’eminent’ lawyers to scrutinize the judgment passed against Khosla and the judgments in other cases passed by CMM Nagar.
A five-member committee comprising former President of Delhi Bar Association B.D. Kaushik and advocates Bhagirath Verma, R.P. Tyagi, Rajesh Khanna and Deepak Sharma has been asked to submit a report within a week to the association.
