Bathinda: Bar associations across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh affiliated with the Joint Action Committee (JAC) are observing a statewide no-work day on Tuesday to protest the registration of a case under the SC/ST Act against advocate Amninder Singh, a member of the Mansa District Bar Association (DBA).
The case was registered after Singh allegedly used derogatory language against Jasbir Singh Garhi, former chairman of the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission, in a Facebook post. The controversy began after the commission summoned certain political functionaries over alleged violations of the SC/ST Act and videos of the proceedings were subsequently uploaded on social media.
According to the report, Singh made the Facebook post on July 7, following which the commission approached Mansa police seeking action under the SC/ST and Information Technology Acts. Police registered a case under provisions of the SC/ST Act on August 18.
The Mansa DBA has opposed the action, maintaining that Singh’s post did not contain any reference to caste and therefore, according to the association, the SC/ST Act should not have been invoked. The association also approached the district police and claimed that officials had assured them that the SC/ST Act provisions would be cancelled, but no such action followed.
The Mansa DBA has been observing a no-work protest since September 5. The Bathinda DBA also observed a no-work day on Monday, while the JAC subsequently announced the statewide protest for Tuesday.
