The Supreme Court today said that lawyers can’t go on strike or abstain from work and directed all high courts to constitute a grievance redressal committee at the state level headed by the chief justice.
The division bench of Justices MR Shah and Ahsanuddin Amanullah stated that a separate grievance redressal committee be constituted at the district court level to provide a forum, where lawyers could seek redressal of their genuine grievances related to procedural changes in filing or listing of cases or misbehavior of member of the lower judiciary.
The bench said that “We once again reiterate that no member of the bar can go on strike…Time and again this court has emphasized that advocates going on strike or abstaining from their work hampers judicial work.”
The court disposed of an application filed by the District Bar Association of Dehradun seeking an appropriate forum for the redressal of their complaints and directed the registry to send a copy of this order to the registrar general of all high courts for taking steps in accordance with the order.
Justice Shah stated if members of the bar have some genuine grievance or face difficulty because of the procedural changes in filing and listing of matters or any genuine grievance pertaining to the misbehavior of members of the lower judiciary, they can very well make a representation for redressal of genuine grievance by some forum so that such strikes could be avoided.
It said that the forum should be a place where members of the bar can vent their grievances.
Further, it said, “Therefore, we request all high courts to constitute a grievance redressal committee in their respective high courts which may be headed by the chief justice and such a grievance redressal committee should consist of two other senior judges–one each from the judicial services and one from the bar–to be nominated by the chief justice as well as the advocate general of the state, chairman of the bar council of the state and the president of the high court bar association.”
The bench stated that the high courts may also constitute a similar grievance redressal committee at the district court level.
The bench said that “It is observed that the grievance redressal committee will consider the genuine grievances related to the difference of opinion or dissatisfaction due to procedural changes in filing and listing of the matter in respective high courts or any district courts in their respective states and any genuine grievance pertaining to misbehavior of any member of lower judiciary provided such grievance must be genuine and not to put any pressure on any judicial officer.”
