The Bar Council of India on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it is planning to frame rules to outlaw strikes by lawyers and bar associations that call for such strikes.

Manan Kumar Mishra, a senior advocate and the chairperson of BCI submitted before the division bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah, that they have convened a meeting of all the State Bar Associations on 4 September.

The Court was hearing a matter filed by the District Bar Association against the decision of Uttarakhand High Court which held that holding of strikes/boycott of courts by lawyers to be illegal. At the request of the BCI, the case was adjourned for the third week of September by the SC.

"We appreciate the steps being taken by the Bar Council of India in this regard," the division bench opined, while deferring the case.

Earlier, the Court had asked Mishra to provide concrete suggestions to deal with the problem of strikes and abstention from work by lawyers, however, Mishra apologized to the Court for not coming up with such suggestions due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year the apex court was irked by lawyers holding strike every Saturday for 35 years in Uttarakhand district courts over some or the other reason and had warned the advocates of a contempt charge being put on them if they continued with it.

"Despite the law laid down in various verdicts of the apex court, the court had time and again deprecated the lawyers for going on strikes but it continued unabated," the Supreme Court observed.



With inputs from PTI

Supreme CourtBar Council of IndiaLawyersStrikesJustice ChandrachudJustice MR Shah

Gurpreet Kaur