MP Lawyers Strike: CJI To Meet With State Bar Council Chairman Tomorrow

The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has approached the Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council Prem Singh Bhadouria to discuss the issue surrounding the lawyers’ strikes in the state.

The State Bar Council chairman released a press note on Tuesday afternoon stating that the strike has been called off for the time being.

The note indicated that the meeting is set to take place at 4 PM on March 29, and that the Council hopes for a satisfactory outcome.

In light of this,he asked all advocates in the State to continue work tomorrow.

The State Bar Council on Monday resolved to go on another two-day strike. The Council stated that the High Court took no initiative to meet the aims of the lawyers to revoke the 25 debt scheme, as per which district courts are required to dispose of 25 of the oldest cases within three months.

Taking into consideration of the dissatisfaction among lawyers in the district courts, the Council called upon all lawyers in the State to abstain from court work on March 28 and 29.

The protest against the order began from February, with the lawyers deciding to go on strike from March 23 to March 25.

The Madhya Pradesh Bar Council had asked that the High Court repeal its scheme, failing which lawyers across the strike would boycott judicial work.

The High Court subsequently took suo motu cognizance of the strike, calling it a “sad day for the State of Madhya Pradesh”.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra had warned the striking advocates that contempt action would be taken against them if the boycott was not called off.

On Monday, the bench passed show cause notices to the Chairman and every elected member of the Madhya Pradesh Bar Council seeking an explanation why criminal contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them for compelling lawyers to abstain from judicial work.

The single judge bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan noted that the strike called by the Chairman was in brazen defiance of the order passed by the High Court on March 24.