SHILLONG : Lawyers in Meghalaya will continue their indefinite boycott of all courts after a meeting with Law Minister Lahkmen Rymbui failed to address their demands, Shillong Bar Association Secretary TL Jyrwa said on Tuesday.
The protest is being spearheaded by the Shillong Bar Association and the High Court of Meghalaya Bar Association on behalf of bar associations across the state.
Jyrwa said the associations had launched the first phase of their protest on August 27 and decided on Monday to stop work in all courts after receiving no response from the Chief Minister or the Law Department.
The decision followed a meeting with the Governor on Saturday, which the lawyers said did not result in any concrete response from the government.
Chief Justice cautions lawyers over boycott
On Tuesday morning, leaders of the bar associations met the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
According to Jyrwa, the Chief Justice cautioned the lawyers that abstaining from court work was not permissible in view of Supreme Court rulings against such strikes.
“The Chief Justice said that the decision we have taken to abstain from court work is something that should not be done because there are Supreme Court rulings that bar us from doing such strikes,” Jyrwa said.
The lawyers, however, told the Chief Justice that they had been left with no option as their demands had allegedly not received adequate attention from the government.
Jyrwa said the Chief Justice assured the delegation that she would try to coordinate talks between the government and the bar associations.
“She said go and reconsider this decision that you have taken and come back around 2 o’clock and resume work,” he said.
Law Minister allegedly unaware of detailed representation
The lawyers subsequently met Law Minister Lahkmen Rymbui at around noon.
Jyrwa described the meeting as unsatisfactory, saying the minister was allegedly unaware of the detailed representation submitted by the bar associations to the Chief Minister.
“He said that he has no knowledge about it but he only knows about that resolution that we took yesterday to boycott the courts,” Jyrwa said.
The lawyers’ core demand includes the removal of Advocate General Amit Kumar, whom they have accused of allegedly appointing his own people in cases concerning Meghalaya.
Jyrwa said the Law Minister told them that he could examine appointments made through the Law Department, but the removal of the Advocate General would have to be decided by the Cabinet.
Lawyers question whether representation reached Cabinet
Jyrwa said the minister’s response raised questions over whether the detailed representation submitted by the bar associations had actually reached the Cabinet.
“What is surprising is that it appears that all that the Bar has sent to the Chief Minister has not yet been placed before the cabinet for a collective decision,” he said.
He added that the minister did not provide any timeframe for examining the appointments or addressing the demand concerning the Advocate General.
“The meeting was not satisfactory because he did not give a time frame to look into those appointments and for removing Amit Kumar also he has no power,” Jyrwa said.
Court boycott to continue
Following the meeting, the lawyers decided to continue with the indefinite boycott.
“After we came out of the meeting we felt that we have to proceed as decided yesterday not to appear in court so that the Government should clearly know,” Jyrwa said.
The coordination committee of the bar associations will meet on September 3 to decide the next course of action if the government continues to remain silent.
Jyrwa acknowledged that the boycott could cause hardship to the public but defended the decision as necessary to press for changes in the system.
“We may face hardship for some time but if we backtrack now we will not be able to pull it back again,” he said.
The lawyers said they remain open to talks with the government and are awaiting a response from the Chief Minister.