Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association Backs Protest Against LADC Policy, Announces Suspension Of Court Work

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association (PHHCBA) has announced that work at the High Court will remain suspended on July 24, 2026 (Friday), in solidarity with advocates observing a hunger strike against the implementation of the Legal Aid Defence Counsel (LADC) Policy.

In a notice dated July 23, 2026, the Executive Committee of the Association said it “expresses its complete solidarity” with lawyers protesting the policy, and resolved to suspend court work for a day as “a mark of solidarity” with the agitation.

The notice, issued by Secretary Parampreet Singh Bajwa, urges all members of the Bar to extend their “wholehearted cooperation and support” to make the effort “meaningful and effective.”

The move comes amid an escalating agitation by lawyers across Punjab against the LADC Policy, which several District Bar Associations have opposed as being contrary to the panel-based legal aid system and detrimental to the interests of independent legal practitioners.

In recent days, Bar Associations in Bathinda, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Phagwara and Ludhiana have launched hunger strikes and “No Work” protests, under the call of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Bar Associations, demanding withdrawal of the LADC system.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, hearing a PIL alleging denial of access to justice on account of the strike, had recently expressed hope that the dispute would be resolved amicably at the level of the Bar, after the PHHCBA President and senior members of the Bar Council appeared before the Court.