Members of the Ghaziabad Bar Association today staged a protest outside the residence of local MP and Union minister V K Singh and later gheraoed it to press for their demand of a high court bench for western Uttar Pradesh district.
About 400 agitating lawyers assembled at the Collectorate Court Compound and marched towards the Raj Nagar residence of General (retired) Singh, under the leadership of Ghaziabad Bar Association president Anil Pandit.
Pandit, while addressing the advocates, said that lawyers will continue their protest in their respective districts and gherao their MPs till they raise the demand for a high court bench in Parliament.
Senior advocate Ajay Veer Singh said since Singh failed to turn up by 12 noon to meet the agitating lawyers, they latched the main gate of his residence and gheraoed it.
By 12:30 PM, Singh arrived at his residence and informed the lawyers of his efforts towards establishment of a high court bench in Western UP.
He assured the lawyers that he would arrange a meeting with Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Former Ghaziabad Bar Association president Rakesh Tyagi Kakda said out of 80 districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow Bench is catering to the appeals and revisions for only eight districts. Whereas the Allahabad bench is overburdened with the appeal and revision work of 72 districts.
This is creating a huge backlog of nearly six lakh undecided cases at Allahabad High Court. They demanded a separate bench for 22 districts of western UP.
