Lawyers at Calcutta High Court today decided to cease work till August 27 apprehending that the West Bengal government would pass a Bill in the Assembly raising the value of property in which the City Civil Court could hear cases from the limit of Rs 10 lakh to Rs one crore.
Claiming that the City Civil Court Amendment Bill 2012, which is yet to be passed in the Assembly, would reduce the jurisdiction of the high court, three associations of lawyers decided to cease work till Tuesday.
"The state is proposing a Bill to reduce the jurisdiction of the high court by 10 times without giving us a hearing," Bar Library Club secretary Pramit Roy said.
Roy claimed that with the huge backlog of cases before the City Civil Court, disposal of matters would get more delayed with raising of its jurisdiction.
He claimed that the rate of disposal of cases in the high court was 15 times higher than the lower court.
At present, any civil dispute involving property valued at over Rs 10 lakh were heard by the high court, while disputes involving property up to Rs 10 lakh in value in the metropolis were taken up before the City Civil Court here.
The Bar Library Club took a resolution during the day to go on a cease work, which was later adopted by the Incorporated Law Society and the High Court Bar Association.
