Lawyers meet Jharkhand CM over court fee hike; Soren promises review

A section of lawyers met Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday over the court fee hike, as the JMM leader assured them of a review.

As many as 500 advocates were present at the residence of the chief minister where he assured them that his government will review the provisions of the Advocates Protection Act and do a comparative study with other states.

The state government had last year hiked court fees by passing the Court Fees Amendment Bill in the assembly.

Soren said the increase in court fees was not directly concerned with the welfare of lawyers but still, the government will look into the matter and review the amendments.

The delegation was led by Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan, and he was accompanied by Jharkhand State Bar Council members Manoj Singh, Ram Subhag Singh, Anil Tiwary and Rinku Bhakat, among others.

Council chairman Rajendra Krishna and other members stayed away from the meeting.

Bhakat told PTI that they interacted with the CM and he promised computers and other infrastructure for bar associations across the state, among other welfare measures.

The council members are divided over the ongoing strike of lawyers on January 6 and 7 against court fees hike.

The council requested all district court bar association office-bearers to attend a meeting on January 8 in the state capital to decide on the future course of action.

Meanwhile, on the second day of the strike, many advocates across the state refrained from participating in judicial work as per the call of the council.

However, advocates in the high court representing the government as well some other lawyers attended court proceedings, as they did on the previous day.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Babulal Marandi accused Soren of creating a division among advocates.

"Chief Minister Hemant Soren who was engaged in dividing the society is now trying to divide the lawyer community. The government increased the court fee by 6-12 times without proper thought. The Jharkhand State Bar Council is opposing the decision," Marandi said in a tweet.