Thousands of lawyers in Bihar Monday decided to continue their strike till the state government withdraws the steep hike in court fees. The strike began March 31 after the state government refused to roll back the court fee hike.
About 80,000 lawyers including those of the Patna High Court and district courts struck work for the 10th consecutive day Monday and decided to continue their agitation after a meeting attended by representatives of all 122 bar associations across the state.
"It was decided by the associations to continue strike and not to resume work till withdrawal of the court fees," said Rajendra Singh, a senior lawyer and former president of the state bar council.
The lawyers also decided not to negotiate with a ministerial committee the state government constituted last week to look into their demands.
"It is useless to talk to the committee unless the government withdrew the hike," Singh said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced last week that the committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi would look into the objections raised by lawyers' associations.
The state government would take a final decision on the basis of the committee's report, Nitish Kumar said.
