As of now the services is initiated for only lawyers who have cases to attend
@AbhitashS
Navi Mumbai: On September 15 after the Bombay High Court directed the state government and railways to allow lawyers who have their case hearings, to travel in suburban trains on an experimental basis starting from September 18 to October 7. No sooner this was known in the legal fraternity, clamour has begun from others in the fraternity to travel irrespective of whether they have a case hearing or not.
As of now the services will be started for the lawyers who will be having hearings and the reason the lawyers from the satellite city who have work at High Court in Mumbai have requested the state government and railways to start the local trains for all the lawyers and not just for those who have their hearings.
As of now both the Western Railway and the Central Railway are running selected suburban train services only for essential services, as identified by the state government, in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Advocate Varun Vij who practices at Bombay High Court while speaking with the thenews21 Correspondent said, ” Lockdown has rendered many helpless and in search of alternatives to earn their daily bread. Permitting all lawyers shall enable us to make ends meet and sustain during tough times! Times are tough but we need to survive, hoping some decision is made considering our interest too.”
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Advocate Awadh Bhoir said, “Its tough time for everyone, not just for the lawyers. But for most of the lawyers standing outside the Bombay High Court income depends on the affidavit and other documentation work but now due to coronavirus pandemic and lockdown it has become difficult for them to earn their daily bread and butter. The state government should allow all the lawyers to travel by local trains not just for the lawyers who have hearings.”
According to the order from bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni now any lawyers who will have cases to attend must first write to the high court registrar and then registrar will confirm the lawyer’s claim and issue a certificate, based on which the Central Railway & Western Railway will issue a pass or ticket to the lawyer just for that particular day.
The bench also cautioned lawyers against misusing the travel certificate and said in the event of its misuse, it would be open for the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa to take action against the lawyers.By Abhitash D.Singh
