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Lawyers defy SC, strike work

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI Dec. 18. Defying the Supreme Court order banning strikes, lawyers across the country today struck work to protest the amendments introduced to the Legal Services Authority Act.

The vice-chairman of the Bar Council of India, Adish C. Aggrawala, told The Hindu that except in Jodhpur and Jaipur, lawyers in other parts of the country, barring the Apex Court, abstained from court work.

Asked whether it would not amount to contempt of court, he said the Apex Court "has passed an impracticable order". Further, he justified the strike saying "this is one of the rarest of rare cases affecting not only the litigants but also the lawyers warranting direct action".

Mr. Aggrawala said the setting up of Permanent Lok Adalats and transfer of 80 per cent of the cases from regular courts to these adalats, whose decisions were binding, was unconstitutional and would prove detrimental to the interests of the litigants.

He said the BCI had earlier given a call for a nation-wide strike on September 18 but it was called off when the Government invited the BCI representatives for talks. "But the Government did not accept our suggestions and we have no other alternative except to resort to strike." Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of India, G.B. Pattanaik, said that "lawyers can never have a fundamental right to strike. They can only protest legitimately. The law has already been settled in this regard".

In a related development, a three-Judge Bench, headed by the CJI, has ordered notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by the BCI, challenging the constitutional validity of the LSA (Amendment) Act, 2002.

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