Third strike in a month: Litigants suffer as lawyers stay away

Litigants suffered as lawyers in the capital, supported by their colleagues in other northern states, on Monday struck work in district courts demanding withdrawal of changes in the CrPC which allow the police not to arrest accused in offences punishable upto 7 years in jail.
    
This is the third time that lawyers' bodies have observed a strike within the last two weeks here. They had earlier stayed away from courts on January 7 and 14.
    
Litigants, unaware of the strike, were in for a surprise when they reached courts and found the lawyers missing. Many of them had to return empty-handed as no substantial work could be performed in courts, whose staff was present in full strength.
    
Harish, who arrived at Tis Hazari courts for a hearing in a dowry harassment case, was dejected as his counsel was not present forcing the court to adjourn the matter.
    
"My brother's bail application is pending for more than two weeks but advocates' strike has left us with no option," he complained.
    
"There is a complete strike in all northern states including Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh," Co-ordination Committee All Bar Association of Delhi spokesman Rajiv Khosla said.
    
"Lawyers abstained from appearing in courts while the cases listed for on Monday were being adjourned," he said.
    
A meeting of the lawyers was also organised at Tis Hazari courts where they took out a procession and burnt an effigy of CrPC amendments. They blamed politicians for changing the law "only to save their henchmen."
    
Lawyers' associations would also be meeting students and teachers of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia University to seek their support on the issue, Khosla said.

A Federation of Bar Associations formed to launch a "unified protest" has given a call for nationwide strikes on February 3 and 18 to press for their demands.
    
The lawyers demanded that the government should stall the law which has already received the president's nod, by not notifying it.
    
The bar leaders feared that the proposed amendment doing away with the mandatory arrest provision in the offences punishable upto seven years would remove the fear from minds of criminals who would misuse the provisions under the garb of personal liberty.
    
According to the proposed amendments in the Act, no arrest would be required for cognisable offences such as molestation, dowry harassment and attempt to robbery, prescribing maximum punishment of seven years' jail term.