Kanpur: Representatives of 58 district Bar Associations in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday unanimously decided to boycott the National Lok Adalat and abstain from judicial work every Wednesday until their demands are met.The decision was taken at the conclusion of a two-day state-level advocates’ conference at the Kanpur Bar Association lawns. Around 300 representatives participated in the conference, said Kanpur Bar Association general secretary, Vinay Kumar Mishra and The Lawyers Association general secretary Rajeev Yadav.The conference discussed undertakings being sought from district Bar Associations against strikes, amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961, the high court’s order in writ petition No. 12231 of 2025 and implementation of the Advocates Protection Act.The representatives also opposed what they termed “superfluous orders adverse to law” and demanded a judicial commission to fix responsibility for the conduct of judges. They also sought a high court bench at Meerut for western Uttar Pradesh.Among the major demands were enactment of an Advocates Protection Act by Parliament, raising the UP advocate welfare fund from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, a five-year stipend for freshers entering the profession, pension for lawyers above 70 years and chambers for advocates on court premises.Mishra and Yadav said the representatives unanimously supported the decision not to give undertakings sought by the Bar Council of India and UP Bar Council.A resolution passed at the conference also criticised alleged attempts by the administration to “silence” advocates and opposed what the representatives described as illegal pressure on lawyers.Mishra indicated that KBA will soon organize a national level conference to discussed all these issues.Proceedings were suspended for two minutes to pay tribute to Harish Chandra Srivastava, former general secretary, KBA, who passed away on Friday.
