The members of State Bar Council headed by Chairman Rajendra Krishna will meet Chief Minister Hemant Soren after Chhath vacations with the demand for implementation of Advocate Protection Act in Jharkhand.
Jharkhand State Bar Council member Hemant Sikarwar said, “The Bar Council members have decided to meet Chief Minister Hemant Soren for implementation of Advocates Protection Act, as cases of attack on advocates have gone up in the State in past few years.”
Sikarwar claimed that on earlier occasions too, the State Bar Council has placed their demands for implementation of Advocates Protection Act during the tenure of Chief Raghubar Das but the act could not be implemented. The then Government had asked for a draft copy of the Act. After this, action was started on behalf of the Government. But after the formation of the new Government and given the conditions in Corona, the process regarding the Act slowed down.
However, after the Chhath vacations the members of State Bar Council have decided to meet the Chief Minister and placed their demands so that the Act gets passed in the winter session of Assembly.
He said that in recent time incidents like assault and murder against advocates have increased. In view of this, the Protection Act is needed.
Under this Act, if any type of action is to be taken against an advocate including FIR, first of all permission will have to be obtained from the State Bar Council like the Government departments. He informed that the Advocate Protection Act Madhya Pradesh Assembly has already passed Advocates Protection Act, but it is yet to be implemented.
In February this year, lawyers across the State abstained from judicial work for a day in protest against the alleged attack on the president of the Daltonganj bar association by a district and sessions judge inside the court premises.
Similarly, in December last year Ram Pravesh Singh, a 47-year-old lawyer in Ranchi was shot deadat Sarvodaya Nagar, under the Kanke police station limits. It was notable that the deceased lawyer Ram Pravesh Singh had represented Ranchi girl Richa Bharti, who had been in news headlines after a Ranchi court had ordered her to distribute copies of the Quran over a complaint against one of her Facebook posts.
Meanwhile, the lawyers have once again demanded to revert to normal physical court hearings citing acute financial crunch and other difficulties being faced by lawyers due to the restricted functioning of courts because of lockdown imposed by central government to contain the spread of raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. Anil Prakash a lawyer at Civil Court said, “Courts are hearing only urgent matters through video conferencing which has led to growing pendency of cases in the overburdened judiciary. Also due to closure of physical courts the lawyers are facing financial crunch.”
