By IANS,
New Delhi : Work in courts across the National Capital Region (NCR) was affected Wednesday as lawyers went on strike demanding withdrawal of amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). With the amendments, it is no longer mandatory to arrest someone charged with an offence punishable with up to seven years in jail.
Advocates across the region, which includes the towns of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, Moradabad, Hisar, Bulandshahr and Alwar, were on strike.
“The strike was total in the district courts of Delhi as well as the NCR region,” spokesperson for the strikers’ coordination committee Rajiv Khosla said.
Lawyers representing cases listed for the day did not appear in the courts while the courts adjourned the matter, he said.
“The proposed amendment removing mandatory arrest provisions in the offences punishable with imprisonment up to seven years would remove fear from the minds of criminals, who will misuse the provisions under the garb of personal liberty,” he added.
The bar associations of five district courts had Jan 7 observed a strike to oppose the amendments. The decision to go on strike again was taken in a meeting of the coordination committee of bar associations of Delhi and various lawyers’ associations of the NCR.
The advocates also disapproved the Limited Liability Partnership Bill, claiming it was aimed at allowing the backdoor entry of foreign lawyers into the country.
A meeting of the different bar associations is going to take place Thursday where a decision regarding an all-India strike and demonstration would be taken.
The lawyers association has also sent a memorandum seeking withdrawal of the proposed amendments to the president and the home minister.
“Harbouring of an offender of cases like Mumbai terror attacks and Batla House encounter and selling of counterfeit stamp like in Telgi scam would incur no arrest and the police would have the liberty not to arrest offenders under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Khosla said.