Lawyers of Ghaziabad Bar Association blocked all entrance points of the district court premises here today to ensure boycotting of the second National Lok Adalat as part of their protest to demand for a separate bench of High Court for western Uttar Pradesh.
"A unanimous resolution was passed at the high-powered meeting of Bar Association to boycott the mega Lok Adalat to press for our demand of establishing a HC Bench in western Uttar Pradesh," the bar association's chief Anil Pandit said.
"All the litigants who had come to participate in the Lok Adalat to resolve their cases were persuaded in a friendly manner and with reasons by the Bar members not to enter the court premises," he added.
Former president of the Bar Association Rakesh Tyagi said bamboo barricades were erected at several places inside the district court's compound to ensure cent percent boycott.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Ran Vijay Singh said heavy police force was deployed in the district court premises to prevent any untoward incident from taking place.
Though there was no major incident of violence reported, a litigant, identified as Saurabh Gupta, was thrashed by some people when he tried to enter the court premises. In the scuffle, Gupta fractured his finger.
"We are in the process of registering an FIR on the complaint of Gupta against unidentified persons," a police official said.
There has been a long-standing demand for a separate bench of the HC in western UP in view of the inconvenience faced by litigants belonging to other regions of the state.
At present, Allahabad High Court has only one additional bench, at Lucknow, which caters to about a dozen districts situated in the vicinity of the state capital.
Lok Adalats were organised across the country today.
