Lawyers strike amounts to holding litigants to ransom, declares SC | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over lawyers going on strike and hampering court proceedings, Supreme Court on Monday said that it amounted to holding thousands of litigants to ransom who approach the court for justice.
Taking strong exception to Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association‘s call for a strike, a bench of Justices A S Oka and Augustine George Masih directed them to give an undertaking not to resort to such practice in future or be ready to face contempt proceedings.
“You are holding litigants at ransom. What is the fault of 10,000 litigants? You cannot hold litigants to ransom. Every day, the cause list shows 4,000 to 5,000 matters,” the bench said.
In August, SC had issued notice to the Punjab and Haryana HCBA and asked it to show cause as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against its office-bearers.