Out of box solution looms large

Stir by Bar suffers setback

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, August 21: The Gauhati High Court Bar Association’s (GHBA) boycott to Chief Justice (acting) K Sreedhar Rao’s bench sufferred a setback today when senior advocate and civil rights activist Bhaskar Dev Konwar defied the boycott call and appeared in the division bench of the Chief Justice (acting) and Justice Justice PK Saikia  in a writ petition, along with his associate counsels, as the petitioner is retiring on September 30, 2015. The move may prove to be an out of box solution to the logjam between the Chief Justice and the Bar.

Meanwhile, led by Advocate General AL Buragohain the State Government advocates have taken a resolution in their meeting to attend the Court of Chief Justice (acting) K Sreedhar Rao from Monday, defying the boycott call given by the Gauhati High Court Bar Association not to allow the Chief Justice (acting) to take up PlLs and to transfer all PILs of the outlying benches to the respective places.

Advocate Konwar says that the Supreme Court, in the case Common Cause (Registered Society) versus the Union of India, decided on September 28, holds that it is the duty of every advocate who has accepted a brief cannot refuse to attend the Court because a boycott call is given by the Bar Association. “It is settled a law that it is unprofessiol as well as unbecoming for a lawyer who has accepted a brief to refuse to attend the Court even in pursuance of a call for a strike or boycott by the Bar Association. The courts are under an obligation to hear and decide cases brought before them and cannot adjourn matters merely because lawyers are on strike. A lawyer’s duty is to boldly ignore a call for strike or boycott,” he said.

Advocate Konwar has already filed a PIL in the High Court opposing the bandh calls given by different organizations, and the State Government has already drafted a legislation to deal with dandhs. In view of it, advocate Konwar says that he cannot be a party to such illegal and unconstitutiol boycott call given by the Bar Association.

PERSOL APPEARANCE OF BUREAUCRATS IN HC

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice (acting) Rao and Justice P.K. Saikia have directed for persol appearance of number of high-level government officials on August 24, 2015 as the Gauhati High Court Bar Association has given a boycott call not to attend the Court of Chief Justice.

In W.P.(C) No. 4008/20 15 the Post Master General of Assam is directed to be present before the Court, the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Personnel (A) Department in PIL No. 81/2015, the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue Department in PIL No. 70/2015, the Chief Secretary to the Aruchal Pradesh Government is directed to be present before the Court on August 25, in PIL No. 58/20 15 to answer why huge amounts of funds granted to the Environment and Forest Department. In PIL No. 66/2013, the Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam is directed to be present before the court on August 25, 2015 and to file an affidavit with regard to the details of how many hill areas are there in metropolis and how many illegal habitations are there in the hill areas and whether any settlements have been issued to the residence and what action the covernment proposes to take against the illegal settlements and how many hill areas are declared as reserved forests.