Hapur lathicharge: District court lawyers abstain from work in Prayagraj, Muzaffarnagar

Lawyers of the district court here abstained from judicial work on Wednesday in protest against an incident of police lathicharge on advocates in Hapur district last week.

Prayagraj District Advocates' Association president Girish Tiwari told PTI that district court advocates did not participate in court proceedings, responding to a strike call by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh.

Tiwari said further action will be taken on Friday based on a decision by the bar council.

The Allahabad High Court Bar Association on Tuesday decided to start work, following which advocates participated in the court proceedings on Wednesday.

The state bar council, at an emergency meeting on Sunday, called upon lawyers across Uttar Pradesh to continue the strike till September 6.

Police had allegedly lathicharged lawyers on August 29 when they were protesting against the registration of a case against a woman lawyer and her father. The case was registered following a confrontation between the woman lawyer and police when she was going to Ghaziabad in her car.

According to a report from Muzaffarnagar, lawyers staged a protest by taking out a procession in the collectorate and stayed away from the courts for the third day on Wednesday.

President of the Muzaffarnagar district bar association Anil Jindal said lawyers will decide their further course of action based on the directive of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council on September 8.

In Ballia too, protest against the Hapur incident continued and advocates boycotted judicial work.

The strike caused difficulties for the people coming from rural areas of the district as they have been forced to go back.

The High Court Bar Association held a meeting in Prayagraj on Tuesday evening and decided to resume work from Wednesday.

According to a press statement issued by the association, the lawyers had expressed satisfaction over the high court taking cognisance of the Hapur incident.