The issue of frequent strikes by lawyers of the Madras High Court this year was brought to the notice of the Supreme Court.
The issue of frequent strikes by lawyers of the Madras High Court this year was on Thursday brought to the notice of the Supreme Court which sought a response from various advocates' associations of Tamil Nadu for paralysing courts.
A bench headed by chief justice KG Balakrishnan issued notices to Madras High Court Advocates Association, Madras Bar Association and Bar Council of Tamil Nadu for calling strikes on various issues due to which work could be conducted in the High Court for only nine days since January this year.
The response was also sought from the Bar Council of India and Registrar General of Madras High Court.
The apex court decided to hear the matter on February 27 after senior advocate Harish Salve, who had mentioned the petition, said the issue was serious though the lawyers have returned to work after some ugly incidents.
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy had become victim of the strike call given by the lawyers when he was manhandled on February 17 by a group of lawyer for appearing in the High Court.
The petition filed on Thursday by an advocate and professor at IIM, Bangalore, R Murlidhar, sought a direction to declare the ongoing strike of Madras High Court Advocates Association, in protest of causalities of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, as illegal and to force them to return to work.
"The calling of strike has become a method to show the strength of members of the Bar. The strength of a member of the Bar is sought to be indicated by his capacity to paralyse the work of the courts. This is a form of militant trade unionism which is surely and surely spoiling the legal fabric of the State," Muralidharan said.
"If the members of the Bar go on strike indefinitely, the liberty of several accused is seriously infringed. Similarly, the civil rights of several litigants are in jeopardy," he said in his petition.
He said that the lawyers, who are willing to appear before the court, are being manhandled and beaten by other members of the association.
"On January 30, a senior advocate, who was arguing his case in the court of acting Chief Justice, was manhandled and his files were snatched in the presence of Judges," he said.
"The present strike relates to the causalities of Tamil civilians in the ongoing Sri Lankan offence against the LTTE. While this eventually calls for concern, there is no justification in calling any strike," the petition said.
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