Even as hugely understaffed Indian judiciary faces a staggering pendency of over two crores cases, frequent disruption of work in trial courts due to strikes by lawyers only adds to the problem.
With around 51 lakh cases ( accounts for 25% of total pendency in India) pending in trial courts of Uttar Pradesh, over 100 days work gets disrupted every year owing to the frquent strikes and disruption of work by lawyers.
The report prepared by Allahabad High Court listed 10 districts where the lawyers disrupted trial court work for more than 100 days on an average every year for the last five years, reports Times of India.
Work at trial courts in the districts of Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Moradabad, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Balrampur and Chandauli suffered due to lawyers' strikes between March 1, 2010 and March 31, 2015, the daily said citing the report.
In Muzaffarnagar, a total of 753 days was lost due to lawyers' strike, which means an average of 150 days a year. In Aligarh, it was 697 days (140 days a year), Agra 696 days (140 days every year), Faizabad 693 days, Sultanpur 603 days, Moradabad 596 days, Mathura 591 days, Ghaziabad 573 days, Balrampur 560 days and Chandauli 524 days, the report said.
After discounting weekly and religious holidays, the trial courts generally work for an average 250 days a year. If over 100 days are lost due to advocates' strike, it is understandable why the pendency monster refuses to be tamed.
The report prepared by the Allahabad HC, which is now also with the Law Commission, gave reasons why advocates struck work.
It named a few of them, which ranged from bomb blast in Army school in Pakistan to lawyers getting tired due to Republic Day programme, rainy day, death of the mother of colleague advocate and moral support to Anna Hazare's movement.
