Lawyers call off strike for now as HC defers formation of Haryana Administrative Tribunal

The lawyers say they will resume strike if govt revives decision to create the tribunal, which they say encroaches upon HC's judicial independence & powers.

Chandigarh: Members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar association have decided to meet on 5 August and formally suspend their strike after the court deferred the formation of the Haryana Administrative Tribunal earlier in the day.  

The protesting lawyers have, however, made it clear that in case the Haryana government revives its decision to create the tribunal, they would again resort to strike.

The indefinite strike called by the members of the bar association, against the tribunal, had entered its eight day Friday.

Court defers tribunal

Taking suo motu cognisance of the ongoing strike, a full bench headed by Chief Justice Krishan Murari said the Haryana advocate general had apprised the court that the state needed some more time for proper implementation of the Government of India notification that led to the creation of the tribunal.

“This (the creation of the administrative tribunal) led to an unprecedented situation where the members of the Bar went on strike protesting against the issuance of the aforesaid notification and functioning of this Court stands paralysed for the last one week,” the bench ruled Friday morning.

“Under the provisions of the Act it is clear that a single member can neither decide the matter finally nor take up such cases where the vires of any Service Rules are challenged,” it added. “In the absence of constitution of the principal bench of the tribunal and the notification with respect to the seat of the Principal Bench of the tribunal the litigating public would be left without any remedy which would result in total failure of justice delivery system,” ordered the bench.

The court said the formation of the tribunal was “deferred for the time being and the fresh cases as well as pending cases shall continue to be entertained by the high court as well as district courts in Haryana till further orders”.

A tribunal and turmoil

The BJP government in Haryana had decided to create the tribunal, meant for cases involving government employees, in 2015. It was, however, only notified by the Government of India on 24 July. 

Following this, the state government appointed retired judge Sneh Prashar as its chairperson.

But by 26 July, lawyers of the high court went on an indefinite strike demanding the withdrawal of the notification.  They protested against the creation of the administrative tribunal on the grounds that it nibbled away at the jurisdiction of the high court apart from creating and additional level of litigation for the petitioners.

Members of the bar virtually shut down the high court allowing only the high court judges and their staff to enter. Even a litigants were stopped from entering the court. Thursday also saw several district bar associations across Haryana and Chandigarh struck work in solidarity with the high court lawyers.