Bar associations cannot bargain for demands like trade unions, says Allahabad HC

Prayagraj: Allahabad High Court has observed that courts are not industrial establishments and bar associations cannot bargain for their demands like trade unions, as it expressed serious concern over the ongoing strike at the Tehsil Bar Association, Rasra, in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district.

The court also directed the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to bring on record guidelines framed by it, if any, on observance of condolences and other instances under which lawyers abstain from work and whether any action has been taken by it in the particular case or not.

Hearing a PIL filed by one Jang Bahadur Kushwaha, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Kshitij Shailendra directed to list the case on February 5 for further hearing.

"Lawyers' strike waste not only judicial time but also cause immense loss and harm to all the social values and leads to rising pendency of cases, adversely affecting the system of justice delivery, bringing more and more hardships to the litigants for whom the courts are meant. Abstaining from work for the whole day without any substantial cause also falls in the same category," the court added.

"If courts of law remain closed for long periods, people may take recourse to other means for redress of their grievances, including those which may have no sanction of law," the court said.

In an order dated January 24, the bench also said if there is some grievance, members of the bar can approach the grievance redress committees in their districts, constituted by the high court in an order dated June 6, 2023.

The court also said, "If this situation persists for a considerable period of time, the resultant effect on society as well as individuals and the nation as a whole would be unassessable."