Gurgaon: Lawyers on Thursday blocked the entrance to the court of a judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) over allegations of repeated misbehaviour with advocates.The protest — against the JMFC — which prevented advocates and litigants from entering the district courts’ complex and brought proceedings to a halt followed the district bar association’s decision to “completely boycott the court”.The trigger for the protest was an alleged incident involving senior advocate Sandeep Saini, which the bar said took place shortly before Thursday’s protest.In a notice announcing the boycott, the district bar association said it was “deeply unfortunate” that the judge had allegedly been behaving improperly and misbehaving with advocates repeatedly.As the protest disrupted judicial work, cases listed before the court could not proceed. The allegations made by the lawyers could not be independently verified. The judge’s response to the allegations was not immediately available.The bar had decided that from Aug 20, no advocate would appear before the JMFC court during the boycott. Lawyers were asked to assemble outside the court at 9.30am in support of the decision.Former bar association president Kulbhushan Bharadwaj, who led the protest, alleged that the judge’s conduct towards lawyers had become a recurring issue and demanded that a committee of doctors from AIIMS be constituted to counsel her.“Lawyers present their cases by looking at the judge. The judge raises an objection to male as well as female lawyers, asking why they are staring at her,” Bharadwaj alleged.Former bar association secretary Rahul Bharadwaj also alleged that the judge’s conduct had caused resentment among lawyers across the bar. “She is misbehaving with every lawyer. She has an issue with everyone, irrespective of gender,” he alleged.City bar association president CK Sharma said the matter had earlier been taken up with the district judge. According to Sharma, the district judge conveyed her message to the concerned judge, but the intervention failed to bring about any change in the alleged attitude and behaviour.The bar association said the issue was not limited to an individual advocate but concerned the “dignity, honour and respect” of the legal fraternity. It called upon lawyers to maintain unity and strictly follow the boycott decision.The protest also comes against the backdrop of the bar’s demand that its members be treated with dignity while appearing before the court. The association has said it will continue the boycott of the JMFC court in accordance with its decision.
