GHCAA Calls Off Their Strike, Resume Works From Tomorrow [Justice Nikhil Kariel Transfer Row]

JUSTICE NIKHIL S KARIEL Law Insider

Akansha Upadhyay

Published on – 22 November 2022 at 23:10 IST

The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) transferred Justice Nikhil Kariel from the Gujarat High Court to the Patna High Court. They have decided to call off their strike which began on Thursday in protest against the proposed transfer of Karial. The advocates will return to work from tomorrow.

The decision to call off the strike came a day after Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud assured the GHCAA that their objections would be looked into. CJI Chandrachud had also asked the advocates to return to work.

The senior members of the delegation met the Chief Justice of India in the meeting of the association held today at 10:30 a.m Bar about the meeting and said the following :-

“We place on record our appreciation for the cordial audience given by the Chief Justice of India and the other two members of the Collegium.”

“We must inform the August Bar that the Chief Justice of India underlined to us the fact that the issue of the transfer of Justice Kariel would be thoroughly examined, with inputs from all sources, including the representation made by the GHAA.”

The meeting, chaired by In-charge president Prithviraj Jadeja, said that the GHCAA is committed to the issues raised by them and since a solution is desirable within the constitutional framework, the present strike is suspended.

Significantly, it was further resolved in the meeting that an appropriate resolution will be passed condemning the transfer order of Justice Vipul Pancholi and for this a meeting will be called on Wednesday at 2 pm. in the bar room.

It may be noted that the GHCAA has been protesting against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel. On 17 November, the association decided to abstain from appearing before the benches. Passing a resolution to this effect, the association headed by Justice Nikhil S. Kariel as an ‘excellent, upright, honest and fair judge’ and vowed to show his displeasure in this regard.

Stating that the proposed transfer is not in the right taste, the resolution of the association states that it has been unanimously decided by the members of the bar to strongly oppose any such move and till the issue is resolved by the CJI and the collegium.

The decision to pass the resolution was taken by the association in an impromptu meeting called hours after members of the bar gathered in Chief Justice Arvind Kumar’s court today to protest against the proposed SC collegium decision.

When CJ Arvind Kumar asked the lawyers about the purpose of their presence in large numbers before the court, senior advocate Mihir Thakor said they were against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel to the Patna High Court and they would observe two minutes silence wanted to.

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