The Delhi High Court on Friday deferred till September 24 the hearing of liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s plea challenging summons issued to him by a trial court in several cheque-bouncing cases filed against him by Delhi airport operator DIAL.
He was also exempted from personal appearance before the trial court.
The deferment of hearing came after the judge was informed that the Delhi High Court Bar Association had called for “total abstention from work” in protest against the passage of a Bill by Rajya Sabha to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of the district courts.
Lawyers on strike
Notices were put outside each courtroom informing the lawyers as well as litigants about the strike and names of proxy counsel.
Lawyers abstained from appearing in matters and only proxy counsel were present to get a next date for hearing in the cases listed before various benches of the High Court.
The increase in value of cases will severely reduce the workload of the average HC lawyer. There are several civil suits which are pending in the HC which are valued less. However, this would mean more business for those in the district courts. The earlier value was only Rs. 20 lakh.
