IMPHAL, November 8: Legal proceedings were crippled as members of the High Court Bar Association abstained from work at the Gauhati High Court, Imphal bench today.
The stance was adopted by the HCBA officials demanding deputation of 7 judges for the High Court of Manipur. It had also decried the deputation of 4 judges from the GHC for Manipur as the appeal of the state lawyers included deputing judges from deserving lawyers of the State.
This is the second time that the lawyers have abstained from court work in pressing the demand. The last agitation was concluded in July last following an assurance from Union Law Minister ,Salman Khursid. The present stance of the lawyers will not be changed until the demand is tendered, members of the HCBA confirmed.
It was reported that many cases in the cause list went unheard today and postponed to future dates, as the representing lawyers stayed off court.
It may be mentioned that Manipur has around 6000 pending cases and is next to Assam. Meghalaya and Sikkim has only 600 and 160 pending cases respectively.
HCBA had demanded the deputation of seven judges for the High Court of Manipur and that they should be residents from the State. The matter was urged to the Union Law Minister Salman Khursid in August 2012 by representatives of the Bar in August last.
Following the assurance of the Minister, a cease work agitation launched by members of the HCBA in June 11 was suspended on July 9, 2012. He said that since then, the lawyers had remained optimistic that the demand would be reciprocated.
However, it came to the HCBA’s knowledge that a decision has been made for deputation of four judges for the High Court of Manipur inclusive of a Chief Justice. The judges would also be transferred from Gauhati High Court, Assam.
The visibly aggravated lawyers mentioned that such an action is against the interest of the State and it surmounts to a ‘step-motherly’ treatment from the concerned. It was mentioned that the lawyers of the State deserving judgeship has been deprived of their rights, and that there are no chances for eligible lawyers of elevating their status for decades more.
Decrying the arrangement, the HCBA had decided to re-launch the suspended agitation of abstaining from Court work from tomorrow onwards. The demands will be reiterated to the Prime Minister,Union Law Minister and the Chief Minister of the State.