Criminals being produced at Magistrates homes or in jails since lawyers strike
New Delhi: The lawyers strike has brought the district courts to a standstill in the national Capital, however the crime hasn't stopped and the accused are being caught, so where are the accused being produced when the district courts are not functioning? Sources say that the accused caught in different crimes are either produced at Duty Magistrates homes or in the jails where the Magistrate listen to the case and decides the future course of action. Some policemen have also admitted to producing accused to courts directly in the judge's chamber in the courts.
"We are either producing the accused at the house of the Duty Magistrate or in the respective jails, since the standoff the work of police hasn't stopped. However, the normal procedure to produce the accused to the court has taken a hit. Though, we are producing the accused in front of the Magistrate according to his convenience," said a senior police officer.
"If the lawyers are on strike, the litigants can argue their own case. The judges are never on strike. Also, the police could produce the accused to Duty Magistrate or in Jail depending upon the jurisdiction" said Ehtesham Hashmi, senior Supreme court lawyer.
Earlier, even the litigants were not allowed to enter the court at some places since the strike began on November 4 but later there were reports of lawyers offering flowers and biscuits to litigants as a goodwill gesture.
The matter between police and lawyers escalated after the Tis Hazari violence in which a lawyer received a bullet injury and atleast 20 security personnel including senior police officers were injured over minor parking issue and later a lawyer was seen thrashing a policeman on a bike outside Saket court on November 4.
Lawyers at all the six district courts here continued to boycott work for the 5th consecutive day on Friday with advocates and personnel staff of the bar associations doing the security checks of the people entering the premises.
