Lawyers' Strike : Supreme Court Orders Allahabad High Court Committee To Take Action Against Gautam Budh Nagar Bar Association

The Supreme Court today directed the an Allahabad High Court Committee of 3 judges to take action against a district Bar Association in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, which passed repeated resolutions for abstention from work in violation of the Supreme Court's orders.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order, after being told that in less than 4 months' tenure (of the Office Bearers of the Bar Association), there have been strikes for over 15 days.

The petitioner alleged that despite the Court's directions against abstention from court work during working days and/or strikes, the District Civil and Criminal Bar Association, Gautam Budh Nagar passed repeated resolutions for abstaining from court work.

In this backdrop, the top Court observed that the 3-judge Committee ought to have taken immediate action against the Bar Association over the alleged resolutions for abstention from work. Be that as it may, it passed the following order,

"We find some merit in the allegation raised by the petitioner. That being so, Hon'ble Chief Justice of the High Court or a 3-judge Committee constituted by him in terms of para 9 of our order dated 20 December, 2024 ought to have taken immediate action against office bearers of the Bar Association. However, without expressing any further opinion, we direct the District and Sessions Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar to send a report to the Registrar General of the High Court in 1 week giving details of the working days when members of the Bar Association abstained from work as a result of the resolutions passed by the Bar Association."

The petition was disposed of with a request to the 3-judge committee to consider the report to be sent by the District Judge and take immediate action as per the Supreme Court's 2024 order in Faizabad Bar Association's case. In the said case, the Court had passed an order restraining all district Bar Associations in the State of UP from passing any resolution for abstention from work or declaring strike on a working day. Para 9 thereof read thus:

"The directions issued hereinabove to the newly elected office bearers of the Bar Association of Faizabad restraining them not to pass any resolution for abstaining from work or declaring strike on a working day, shall apply mutatis mutandis to all the District Bar Associations in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Justice of the High Court is requested to constitute a Committee of at least three Judges to monitor the situation, and wherever it is found that a Bar Association is in defiance of these directions, a swift action for removal of the elected office bearers be taken forthwith. No leniency or discretion in this regard shall be exercised by the High Court Committee. The directions contained in paragraphs 3 and 8 above are being issued invoking our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution so as to do complete justice to the Consumers of Justice."

Case Title: VIRENDRA SINGH Versus MANOJ KUMAR BHATI, Diary No. 16535-2026