The Supreme Court suggested the Bar Council of India on Monday to suspend the licences of the lawyers, who have been striking in Odisha over their long-standing demand for a permanent bench of Orissa High Court in the western part of the state, at Sambalpur.
The Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S. Oka recommended the Bar Council to take action against the district bar associations, whose members had been involved in the protests.
Justice Kaul further told the agitating Advocates that there was no other option than to resume 100 percent work.
He said the associations had been cautioned on many occasions that if they failed to conduct themselves as a member of this noble profession, they would lose protection.
To uphold the majesty of law and make the working of the court functional, it was important that the Bar associations took action against their erring leaders.
On November 14, the Apex Court had issued warning to the agitating lawyers that their registrations would be cancelled and contempt proceedings could be initiated against them if they failed to conduct themselves. They were further told to desist from such acts that had ‘practically’ brought the working of the judicial system to a standstill and jeopardised the litigating public.
The Supreme Court had directed the district bar associations to ensure that their members “fell in line”.
As per the Apex Court, access to justice was the very foundation of a legal system.
Calling the legal fraternity as the instrument of access to justice to the people at large, the Apex Court had noted that when the very instruments abstained from court proceedings, casualty was the access to justice to the common people and it was the common people and litigants who suffered.