Lawyers protest against demolition of chambers in Lucknow

Lucknow: Several advocates in Lucknow on Sunday staged a sit-in on a street to protest the demolition of more than 200 lawyers’ chambers by the city's Municipal Corporation following a High Court order.

Earlier on Sunday, police and administration officials arrived at the site to conduct the demolition, drawing strong objections from the lawyers, who began a sit-in on the road against the proposed action and demanded an alternative arrangement to continue their legal practise.

Speaking to IANS, advocate Balram Jakhar said, "They are acting arbitrarily. First, provide us with an alternative arrangement, and then demolish the chambers. At least 2,000 advocates are suffering. Diwali is such a major festival, yet we are being left in darkness. How can this government function like this? It is behaving like goons...our homes (chambers) are being snatched in front of our eyes. How can we tolerate this?"

Expressing frustration over not being provided alternative arrangements, he said, "They (administration) are only after demolishing the chambers and are not making efforts in providing us an alternative...either break us or send us to jail, then demolish our chambers, otherwise we will strongly oppose it."

Asserting that the lawyers won't allow the demolition, Jakhar said: "We will do whatever it takes to stop this."

Further, he alleged that administration officials and the police are trying to remove the protesting lawyers from the site, saying: "They are trying to suppress us."

"If they demolish our chambers, we will have to practise on the roads, so we have already taken it to the streets," he added.

While acknowledging that the action is being taken on the orders of the High Court, the advocate said: "We respect the court orders, but there should have been a way out."

"There is complete arbitrariness, and no one is willing to hear us out. We are lawyers, not goons or mafias, who can be subjected to such torture. We are an important section of society who ensure justice for people," he stated.

Earlier, a similar controversy had erupted in Uttar Pradesh over the demolition of an illegal mosque located within the Saharanpur Collectorate complex.

The demolition had taken place after the Muslim side’s appeal was rejected by the court.

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