New Delhi: Lawyers practising in district courts of the national capital called off their strike Monday afternoon after the Delhi Police backtracked for the second time in as many weeks from implementing a notification issued by the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) that allowed police personnel to give evidence to courts from police stations via video conferencing.
A fresh circular issued Monday, approved by the Delhi Police Commissioner, directed the physical presence of all police officers during trial proceedings, a usual procedure earlier, but which was planned to be amended by the Delhi L-G’s notification.
The circular was marked to all districts and units of the police force, as well as to the chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi and the chairman of the coordination committee of the All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi.
The circular was an amendment to the previous one that requested district courts to allow “formal” police witnesses to depose from designated places from police stations.
Lawyers had condemned the first circular, saying it categorised “formal and material witnesses” and also dishonoured assurances against virtual deposition given by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting with members of the bar on 2 September.
Prior to that, the police had put in abeyance the implementation of the LG’s 13 August notification until the meeting of the home minister and the bar members.
Following the first circular, lawyers had given calls for an intensified protest starting Monday that has now been called off in the wake of the fresh circular that has effectively closed the doors on the L-G’s notification.
According to the notification, all 226 police stations in Delhi were designated as venues from where police personnel could depose before courts through video-conferencing and present their evidence. It was condemned by bar members in Delhi as well as lawyer outfits practising in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court. Protests against it had lasted nearly a week.
The lawyers are of the view that while the 13 August notification aims to expedite proceedings, the suggested measure is “neither practical nor lawful” and “strikes at the very root of fair trial principles, judicial independence, and public confidence in the justice system”.
The lawyers argue that the implementation of the notification enabling deposition of police officers from the designated facility would affect trial proceedings and could lead to wrongful convictions and compromise fairness and the overall process.
The first protests were called off after newly-appointed Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha put the implementation of the notification on hold till Shah met the bar members.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)