Lawyers' strike; SC closes contempt proceedings against office-bearers of Rajasthan HC Bar body

The Supreme Court Thursday closed the contempt proceedings against the office bearers of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association after they tendered unconditional and unqualified apology for boycotting a bench of the High Court on September 27 as part of the lawyers strike.A bench comprising Justices M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna, which had earlier rejected the affidavits of bar leaders as not being unconditional ones, accepted the fresh ones and ordered the closure of the contempt proceedings against them.

The Supreme Court Thursday closed the contempt proceedings against the office bearers of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association after they tendered "unconditional and unqualified apology for boycotting a bench of the High Court on September 27 as part of the lawyers' strike.

A bench comprising Justices M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna, which had earlier rejected the affidavits of bar leaders as not being unconditional ones, accepted the fresh ones and ordered the closure of the contempt proceedings against them. ''In view of the above, unconditional and unqualified apology tendered by office bearers of Bar Association and their statement on affidavit that they shall not go on strike on any ground whatsoever in future or pressurise Chief Justice or any other Judge to change the roster of a particular judge or Bench and no pressure tactic shall be adopted in future and they will resolve their conflicts by lawful methods, we accept the unconditional and unqualified apology tendered. We close the contempt proceedings," the bench said in the order. Earlier while rejecting the apology, it had said directed the office bearers of the Bar body to file "better affidavits" and also to come out with a Resolution stating that the Bar Association in future shall not repeat the acts of boycotting courts, go on strike, etc. Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave appeared for the bar body and said the office bearers, except one woman member, have filed the affidavits as desired by the bench which accepted them. On November 16, the bench had rapped the Bar Association for not filing its response on a show-cause notice as to why contempt proceedings may not be initiated against its office bearers for shouting slogans and shutting down the door of the courtroom.

The bench had said it is also very unfortunate that no counter has been filed till date although the Office-bearers of the Bar Association, who are alleged to be in contempt is served long back and earlier also the matter was adjourned at their instance.

It had said the contents of the report filed by the Registrar General of the Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur Bench was shocking. The Registrar General in its report told the bench that the office bearers of Bar Association and other lawyers assembled outside the court of Justice Satish Kumar Sharma and asked fellow Advocates to come out of the Court Room.

"On receiving the information that Advocates are raising slogans outside the courtroom of Justice Sharma, the Registrar (Admn.) immediately went to the courtroom and found that the Advocates have shut down the door of the courtroom and found that the Advocates have shut down the door of the courtroom and were not allowing anybody to enter the courtroom.

"The Registrar (Admn.) anyhow entered the court and found Justice Satish Kumar Sharma sitting in the courtroom but no advocate was there. All Courts except the Court of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Satish Kumar Sharma functioned normally," the report said.

The top court was hearing a case in which the advocates in the Rajasthan High Court went on strike on September 27, 2021.

The apex court had earlier said it is ''unprofessional'' and ''unbecoming'' for a lawyer to refuse to attend the court due to a strike or boycott by the Bar Associations as they cannot disrupt court proceedings and put the interest of their clients in jeopardy.

The top court had observed that an advocate is an officer of the court and enjoys a special status in society.

It had taken note of the submission of Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra that BCI has issued the notice to the Bar Association of the High Court of Rajasthan at Jaipur.

The senior advocate had stated that there was a call to boycott only one court.

The apex court had said even that also cannot be tolerated.

''To boycott only one court will hamper the independence of the judiciary and there may be a pressure on the particular judge whose court is boycotted and it may lead to demoralisation of the judiciary,'' the court had said.

The bench had issued notice to the President, Secretary, and the Office Bearers of the Bar Association of the High Court of Rajasthan at Jaipur to show cause why contempt proceedings may not be initiated against them.

The apex court had directed the Registry to serve notices through the Registrar General of the High Court of Rajasthan at Jaipur.

Referring to its earlier decisions, the top court had said that to go on strike by the Bar Association and the lawyers is absolutely contemptuous and just contrary to the earlier decisions of this Court.

In its earlier order, the apex court had specifically observed and held that the lawyers have no right to go on strike or even token strike or to give a call for the strike.

It had also held that nor can they while holding Vakalat on behalf of clients, abstain from appearing in courts in pursuance of a call for strike or boycott.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)