‘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"

Written by Nirbhay Thakur

New Delhi | September 7, 2025 05:30 AM IST

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.

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