‘Lawyers have no right to strike as per SC’: Bar Council of India urges Delhi lawyers to recall strike call
The strike had been called off after the Delhi Police Commissioner's office had issued a statement saying that “the Union Home Minister would meet the representatives of the Bar to discuss the issue with an open mind"
Last month, the Coordination Committee – representative of Delhi's lawyers – had gone on strike for six days against the August 13 notification (Express File Photo)
The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Saturday urged the coordination committee of all district court bar associations of Delhi to defer or recall its indefinite strike call from September 8 in protest against L-G V K Saxena’s August 13 notification allowing police personnel to give evidence to courts from police stations via video conferencing.
“The Hon’ble Supreme Court, as we all know, has held that lawyers have no right to strike or call for a boycott of courts. Only the Bar Councils, as the statutory bodies under the Advocates Act, are entrusted with the authority to regulate the conduct of advocates, and therefore any collective abstention undertaken without their sanction from State Bar Councils may lack legitimacy and risk weakening the credibility of the profession itself,” a circular issued by the BCI read.
“…repeated abstentions from work are causing grave hardship to litigants, including undertrial prisoners and victims of crime, and also to those advocates who are eager to discharge their professional duties in Delhi Courts,” it added while urging the members of the Coordination Committee to hold a joint meeting with the BCI and the State Bar Council of Delhi on Monday.
Last month, the Coordination Committee – representative of Delhi’s lawyers – had gone on strike for six days against the August 13 notification. The strike had been called off after the Delhi Police Commissioner’s office had issued a statement saying that “the Union Home Minister would meet the representatives of the Bar to discuss the issue with an open mind”.
However, in a circular dated September 4, the office of Police Commissioner Satish Golcha said that as per a Delhi High Court notification on August 4, designated places for recording evidence include prisons, forensic departments, prosecution offices, and police stations.
Opposing this, the Coordination Committee issued a circular stating that there will be a “complete indefinite abstention from work in all district courts of Delhi from Monday… and there shall also be agitation in a more intensified manner against the arbitrary and illegal notification”.
Advocate Tarun Rana, secretary of the New Delhi Bar Association, said, “After this (new circular), I am more firm – either the genuine demand of lawyers in the interest of the public is fulfilled or we will continue our agitation in a more intensified manner.”
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“If the BCI wanted to have a meeting, it could have done it before Monday. I urge all lawyers to stay strong. In my 33 years of experience, no justice can be done on video conferencing when it comes to presenting evidence,” advocate Dhir Singh Kasana added.
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.
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