District Court pending cases cross 1 lakh mark amid repeated strikes by lawyers

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 25

Increasing pending cases, recurrent strikes by lawyers and a murder on the court premises were some of the challenges that the District Courts faced in 2024. For the first time, the pending cases have crossed the one lakh figure this year.

The backlog is the highest in the history of the District Courts, which came into being on November 1, 1966, soon after the bifurcation of the states of Punjab and Haryana. It had increased by over almost 50 per cent in the past four years with the number of the pending cases recorded at 1,02,664 on December 23.

The year also witnessed recurrent strikes by lawyers. First, the lawyers went on strike in August against the proposal of the Chandigarh Administration to implement the new Tenancy Act. The advocates had abstained from work for more than 20 days in protest against the proposed Act .They alleged that the draft of the New Tenancy Act had been finalised without their consent and would affect the litigants, common man and lawyers if implemented.

The District Bar Association decided to end the strike only after meeting the Governor of Punjab and UT Administrator. They again resorted to strike after the death of fellow advocate Neeraj Hans. He died on October 7 after allegedly being punched in the chest during an argument with fellow advocates in the parking lot of the court complex in Sector 43. Hans was rushed to the hospital where he died during treatment. Three cross-FIRs were registered following his death.

The members of the Bar Association did not attend court for many days while protesting the alleged police inaction in the case. The advocates decided to resume work only after they were given an assurance by senior police officers on the issue.

The complex also witnessed a shocking incident. Former AIG of Punjab Police Malvinder Singh Sidhu allegedly shot dead his son-in-law Harpreet Singh on the court premises on August 3. Harpreet was an Indian Revenue Services officer and posted in Delhi. There was a matrimonial dispute going on between the two families, and both sides appeared at the Chandigarh Family Court for mediation. When Harpreet arrived there, Sidhu opened fire at him.

The incident raised serious concerns over the security of the complex. Besides, the trial in a murder case of 35-year-old national-level shooter and advocate Sukhmanpreet Singh Siddhu, alias Sippy, started this year. The CBI court decided to hold a case management hearing. This was the first time that such kind of hearing started in any case as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court regarding the criminal trials in 2021.

Trials in sacrilege cases restarted after the Supreme Court vacated the High Court stay on the trial on October 18. Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim and seven dera followers are the accused in the cases.

Trial in 15-year-old murder and rape case of 21-year-old MBA student also began after the police filed a chargesheet against taxi driver Monu Kumar.

Preity Zinta, film actress and one of the directors of KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, had also approached the court. She prayed for restraining Mohit Burman from selling, disposing of or creating any third-party rights upon his 11.5% shareholding in the company. Finally, the case was disposed of in her favour after Burman told the court he would abide by the Article of Association of the company in case he intends to sell his stake in the company in future.