Dwarka Court Bar Association (DCBA) executive committee member Rajesh Kaushik told The Indian Express that the lawyers were planning to lock the gates of the court premises from 9 am onwards, to prevent even the judges and staff from entering the premises. The lawyers had held a similar “lock out” strike in 2013.
Stating that Delhi Lieutenant General Najeeb Jung was “intentionally withholding” the proposal to transfer the criminal jurisdiction over eight areas in west Delhi to the Dwarka District Court, lawyers of the Bar Association of the Dwarka court has decided to go on an “indefinite lockout strike” on Monday.
The issue of transfer of jurisdiction to Dwarka has led to multiple strike calls over the last five years by the DCBA, as well as the Delhi Bar association, which consists of lawyers practicing in the Tis Hazari district courts, from where three police stations are set to be transferred out. The revenue jurisdiction of the eight areas — which fall within the jurisdiction of police stations in Uttam Nagar, Vikaspuri and Janakpuri — had been transferred from the west district to the south west district in July, 2015. However, the transfer of criminal jurisdiction of the court is yet to be notified.
According to the DCBA, the AAP cabinet had approved the transfer of jurisdiction over the police stations to Dwarka court and sent the file to the LG for approval, but it was now the LG who was “sitting on” the decision. “Notification with regard to the police stations situated in the eight villages has been withheld by the LG for reasons best known to him,” says the letter sent by the DCBA on the strike.
