Government Blinks First in the Standoff with Lawyers
Patna: April 3, 2008
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Lawyers' Strike Continues
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Photo by Shashi Uttam |
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The Nitish government in Bihar showed the first sign of retreat on the issue of rise in court fee that has all the lawyers in the state up in arms causing a complete shut down of the judiciary as their strike entered into its fourth day on Thursday.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, following a meeting of top ministers at the State Assembly, ordered formation of a six-member committee under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to review the Court Fees (Amendment) Act of 2007 before giving a second thought on the lawyers' demands who have been opposed to the fee hike that went into effect from April 1.
Other members of the committee are State Excise Minister Sudha Srivastava, Water Resources Minister Ramashraya Prasad Singh, Road Construction Minister Nandkishore Yadav, Power and Energy Minister Vijendra Yadav, and Human Resources Minister Brishan Patel.
Interestingly, State Industry Minister Gautam Singh last Monday had ruled out any likelihood of the withdrawal of the new court fee saying the new rates were in compliance with the Sethi Commission report and were not expected to affect most advocates.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of lawyers across the state refrained from going to courts after announcing the strike would go on indefinitely until the government buckled down and recalled the hike in court fee.
On Thursday, the lawyers staged a dharna at the Income Tax roundabout and blocked the Bailey Road for hours to press for their demands.
Prominent lawyers including former Law Minister Shakeel Ahmed Khan and the former President of the Bihar Bar Council Rajendra Prasad Singh addressed the crowd in condemnation of the Nitish government.
Nearly 20 lawyers arrested on charges of disrupting peace but were later released at their own cognizance.
More than 80 Civil Court advocates were also arrested on Ashok Rajpath and later released.
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