Allahabad: A day after advocates of Allahabad High Court called off their week-long strike over the issue of killing of an advocate by a police official, a group of disgruntled lawyers on Thursday sat on fast unto death saying they were opposed to withdrawal of the stir before the demand for shifting of the district police chief was accepted.
Normal functioning of the court was, however, not affected by the protest led by Rajiv Shukla, the Treasurer of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) who was joined by about a dozen advocates in the demonstration staged near the premises.
Shukla claimed that he had "resigned from my post in the HCBA yesterday" itself in protest against the decision to resume judicial work "even though the removal of the Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar, which was one of the primary demands of the striking lawyers, was nowhere in sight".
He alleged that since the killing of the 30-year-old lawyer Nabi Ahmed involved a sub-inspector of police Shailendra Kumar Singh, the SSP "who has demonstrated his partisan attitude by brutally suppressing the lawyers' agitation on Wednesday last, can surely use his influence to influence investigation into the murder case that has been lodged".
However, HCBA President Rakesh Pande dismissed the protests by a section of lawyers as "a gimmick resorted to by a group of opportunists with an eye on the Association's annual elections scheduled for May this year".
He also charged Shukla with "enacting a drama of resignation which he claims to have sent to the HCBA's Elders' Committee, although nobody acknowledges having received the same".
"As per our by-laws, the Elders' Committee plays an active role only when the HCBA's term has expired and fresh elections are yet to be held.
Under the present circumstances, an office-bearer needs to submit his resignation directly before the President. And I have not received the resignation of any member, let alone an office-bearer", Pande said.
"However, I can understand our Treasurer's hesitation in speaking to me directly as I would have asked him straightaway what problem was he having all of a sudden when the decision to call off the strike was taken at the HCBA meeting yesterday which was attended by him", Pande added.
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