Hearing of cases were severely hampered at Calcutta High Court and other courts across West Bengal today with lawyers abstaining from work as part of a nationwide protest against the proposed Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
"On a call by the Bar Council of India, members of all bar associations in the state joined the protest against the proposed Advocate (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by abstaining from work for the day," Bar Council of West Bengal chairman Ashok Deb said here.
Terming the bill as "draconian, undemocratic and anti-lawyer," Deb said "the state Bar Council will draw up its future course of action against the bill proposed by the Law Commission to the Government of India so that the same is not enacted by the Government."
"The abstention was total with no lawyer attending court for hearings," Calcutta High Court Bar Association president Suranjan Dasgupta said.
The high court and other courts in the metropolis and districts wore a deserted look as there were neither lawyers nor litigants present.
Judges sat in the empty court rooms before retiring to their chambers later as cases could not be taken up for hearing.
Stating that the proposed bill provides for provisions like compensation to litigants if one loses in a court case, the Bar Council chairman said that it would hamper independent decisions by a lawyer in the interest of his client in course of litigations and was also against the basic rights of a professional.
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