Lawyers in Karkardooma Court go on a flash strike, resolve to not allow police to enter the complex: Why are they angry?
The advocates allege that police did not act on an FIR after one of their colleagues was beaten and robbed. This isn’t the first time that Delhi’s 1.65 lakh lawyers have clashed with police and stayed away from work in protest.
Work has stopped in Northeast Delhi’s Karkardooma Courts complex after lawyers went on a strike on Friday (March 20) to protest the alleged police inaction on a complaint of assault and robbery filed by one of their colleagues.
No lawyers are appearing in the courts either virtually or physically.
The lawyers have also alleged that the Station House Officer (SHO) of Ghazipur police station, in whose jurisdiction the alleged crime took place, was trying to “shield the real culprits”.
At a meeting on Thursday, the Shahdara Bar Association (SBA), which represents all lawyers in the Karkardooma Courts complex, called for a total suspension of work on Friday and to stop the entry of police to the complex.
“All the members of Shahdara Bar Association are hereby informed that an emergent meeting…was called today to discuss a serious incident wherein a member of the Bar was brutally attacked and robbed within territorial jurisdiction of P.S. Ghazipur. Though an FIR…was registered…, however, SHO Ghazipur failed to take any action against the accused person and to arrest them,” the SBA said in a circular signed by its president V K Singh and honorary secretary Narveer Dabas.
The circular alleged that the SHO had “intentionally failed to take any action against accused persons and has been taking time on one pretext or another just to shield the real culprits”.
The Karkardooma Court has jurisdiction over matters in three judicial districts, East, Shahdara, and Northeast. More than 6,000 cases are heard every day on average in the courts within the complex, ranging from cheque-bounce claims, traffic challans, and divorce cases to heinous crimes.
Story continues below this ad
The workload is enormous, and the digital traffic and cheque-bounce courts can have daily cause lists of more than 150 cases.
While each sessions court in the complex hears up to 20 cases a day on average, each magistrate court hears about 50 cases a day. The family courts in the complex hear about 30 cases a day.
About 125 judges preside over the courts in the complex. The pendency is huge – some 1.8 lakh cases are currently pending in the courts in the complex.
The SBA circular also mentioned earlier instances of alleged failure by police to act on complaints by lawyers.
Story continues below this ad
“In a previous incident, where an attempt was made to kill a lawyer and he received a gunshot injury during the incident, police officials of P.S. Mayur Vihar failed to arrest all accused persons till date. It has further been observed that various police officials have been misbehaving with lawyers in police stations and they intentionally don’t take any action on the complaints filed by advocates,” it said.
Therefore, the circular said, the meeting of the SBA’s Executive Committee had “unanimously resolved to observe complete suspension of work on 20.03.2026, and to ban the entry of Police officials inside the court premises on 20.03.2026 as a mark of protest”.
There are 1.65 lakh registered lawyers in Delhi, a large and vocal community that has resorted to strikes to press their demands on several occasions earlier.
In September 2023, lawyers in Delhi’s district courts went on strike and abstained from work in protest against the murder of an advocate in Ghaziabad and the attack on advocates in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur.
In December 2023, the Dwarka Court Bar Association (DCBA) passed a resolution to abstain from work alleging that a Delhi Police official had beaten up a member of the bar at Uttam Nagar East Metro station.
In August 2024, Dwarka Court lawyers gathered outside the court complexes to prevent the entry of police vehicles, because the lawyers alleged that their vehicles are barred from entering police station premises.
In July 2024, Delhi’s lawyers cited a “draconian” order passed by an administrative civil judge which allegedly restricted the entry and exit of any repair material in the lawyers’ chambers without the prior approval of the caretaking branch, and the Delhi Bar Association (DBA) passed an order to abstain from work.
Also that month, lawyers across Delhi abstained from work as a sign of protest against the allegedly “draconian” provisions of the three new criminal laws, such as the extension of maximum police custody of an accused up to 90 days.
In February 2025, lawyers across Delhi’s courts stopped work stating that the decision to pass the Advocates Amendment Bill was taken unanimously. One of their main contentions was that the Bill allegedly contained clauses that would prohibit advocates from boycotting court work.
In June 2025, lawyers across Delhi’s lower courts decided to abstain from work following a decision to move judges of 34 digital Negotiable Instruments Act courtrooms, which hear cheque-bounce cases.
In August 2025, lawyers abstained from work for six days and took to the streets against a notification issued on August 13 by then Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, allowing police personnel to record evidence from police stations via video conferencing.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More
