Advocates protest at HC over poor facilities, registry delays

Bengaluru

Advocates in Bengaluru staged a protest outside the High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday, citing the con tinued failure of the High Court Registry administra tion and the lack of basic amenities such as parking, restrooms and lifts for ad vocates and litigants. “Proper toilets aren’t there, lifts aren’t there, and adequate facilities are lacking. Secondly, in our High Court Registry, when we file a case, it takes a very long time to clear it. There is corruption in the Registry.

We have been asking the Chief Justice to address these issues, but the Chief Justice is neither showing any interest nor respond ing,” Advocates’ Associa tion Bengaluru president Vivek Subbareddy said. More than 200 advocates gathered outside the main gate of the High Court of Karnataka, raising slogans and holding placards. The Advocates’ Association Bengaluru, which has more than 20,000 members, also alleged that it had been facing serious issues with two judges.

It claimed that Justice D.K. Singh had been discourteous towards ad vocates, while protesters urged Justice V. Srishanan da to refrain from making comments about advo cates appearing before him. “Justice D.K. Singh has been discourteous towards advocates. That is a ma jor concern for us. Judges should conduct proceed ings with patience and dignity. Legal disputes should be heard in a calm manner. Along with all these issues, we are staging this protest,” Subbareddy said.

The association's list of demands included re solving parking confusion across courts in Benga luru, filling vacancies in trial courts, providing a ladies’ room and a post office at Mayo Hall, installing lifts in magistrates’ courts, im proving the skywalk con nectivity between the old and new buildings at the M.G. Road court complex, listing contempt cases at an early date to restore confidence, providing copies of court orders without delay, strengthening court administration with adequate staff, restoring the dedicated food court at the High Court for advocates and the general public, and ensuring that matters are not dismissed solely due to the absence of translations, among other issues.

“We have submitted these issues to the Chief Justice several times, but there has been no proper response. That is why we are staging this dharna. We will see what happens over the next few days and then convene a general body meeting,” association member Anjan Kumar said.