Judicial work in 21 districts of western Uttar Pradesh came to a standstill on Wednesday as lawyers went on a week-long strike over their demand for the setting up of a bench of Allahabad High Court in the region.
"Lawyers in western UP have decided not to work till Aug. 20 to press their demand for a High Court bench in the region," said Thakur Anup Singh, the spokesman for the State High Court Action Committee and president of the Muzaffarnagar District Bar Association.
Meanwhile, in Meerut, an advocates' body said that they would take their agitation for a new High Court bench to the national capital. "In the next phase of agitation, we will take the protest to Delhi, where a demonstration will be held at Jantar Mantar on Aug. 26," said the convener of the 'High Court Sthapna Sangarsh Samiti', Mukesh Walia. "The future course of action will be decided in Delhi," he added.
There has been a long-standing demand for a separate bench of High Court 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.
Lawyers at Allahabad, however, are vehemently opposed to any move to set up a new bench as it is likely to deprive them of a sizeable section of their clientele. On Tuesday, it was these lawyers who struck work in protest against the demand for a new High Court bench.
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