Responding to the protest call given by Bar Council of India, the lawyers of this district Tuesday abstained from work and took out rallies in favour of their demands.
Under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association of Jammu (BAJ), hundreds of lawyers led by BS Salathia, took out a protest rally from J&K High Court Complex, Janipur to the Governor’s House and later submitted a memorandum of the demands to the President and Prime Minister of the country through Governor, SP Malik.
Addressing the lawyers, Salathia said that The Bar Council of India (BCI) has been demanding that all the bar associations of the country should have chamber, adequate buildings, accommodation, sitting facilities with well equipped libraries, e-libraries with internet and toilet facilities besides budgetary allocation of Rs 5000 crores for the lawyers and litigants’ welfare in annual budget of the government, insurance cover to the lawyers and their families and redressal of other grievances.
Speaking about the issues of the lawyers of the State, Salathia said that in April 1986 the Advocates Act, 1961 was extended to Jammu and Kashmir.
The act according to him provides for an elected body of the J&K State Bar Council.
“But, till date, the council body has not been elected despite our repeated pleas besides various directions issued by the Supreme Court of India and High Court,” Salathia said.
He also said that last year, the then Chief Justice of the State High Court had urged the union law minster in writing to raise the strength of High Court judges from 17 to 25 but “it has not materialized till date.”
Salathia appealed all the members of the legal fraternity of the State to get united for any struggle in future, in case, the demands of the lawyers are not met.
Meanwhile, the lawyers in the district and session courts and tribunals of Jammu district also abstained from work and took out rallies.