The ongoing trial in the 2G case was disrupted on Thursday due to the day-long strike being observed by all district court lawyers to press for their demand to transfer property dispute cases from the Delhi High Court to lower courts.
The trial in the 2G case began as scheduled in the morning with the examination of prosecution witness Tarun Das, a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, but it had to be adjourned after striking lawyers repeatedly entered the courtroom and requested to stop the proceedings.
"All the lawyers please go out of the court room. I am requesting you all and please cooperate with us. We are not fighting for an individual. We are fighting for the rights of you people (lawyers). This (2G) case is going on daily basis and not much harm will be caused if it is adjourned for a day,"
New Delhi Bar Association secretary Sunil Chaudhary told other lawyers present in the court room. Special CBI Judge O. P. Saini adjourned the matter till Friday after the members of the bar association interrupted the proceedings thrice.
Rajiv Khosla, spokesperson of the Co-ordination Committee of the bar associations of all the six district courts, claimed, "The strike is a complete success. Not even a single lawyer is appearing in any matter in any trial court".
At present, all property disputes up to the value of Rs 20 lakh are handled by district courts and those exceeding the amount are taken up by the High Court, he said, pointing out that 95 per cent properties in Delhi are valued more than that as per the new circle rates announced by the government.
Khosla said the decision to go on a day-long strike was taken last week by the bars' co-ordination committee to draw attention of the Centre and the Delhi government to the plight of litigants who have to approach the Delhi High Court for settlement of their civil disputes irrespective of the fact that it causes 'great inconvenience' to them.
He also claimed the time taken in disposal of a case in the high court is approximately 10 to 12 years in comparison to two to three years taken by a district court.