VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, June 28: A section of lawyers of the Jharkhand High Court has demanded June 30 should be declared a holiday in Jharkhand High Court on the occasion of Hul Diwas. They have stated that the Hul Diwas is associated with the pride of Jharkhand and its people hence the High Court should declare a holiday.
Notably, on June 30, the bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad of Jharkhand are scheduled to hear two PILs 4290/2021 and 727/2022 related to chief minister Hemant Soren.
Ritu Kumar, president of Advocates Association of Jharkhand High Court confirmed having received a signed petition from lawyers.
“I will forward the petition to the office of the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court. In such a matter the full court decides whether to announce a holiday or not,” she said. When asked whether in the past holiday was declared on the occasion of Hul Diwas she said that she doesn’t remember any such occasion.
Shiv Shankar Sharma is the petitioner of both PILs. In the PIL 4290/2021, the petitioner has charged the chief minister and his close associates for raising disproportionate assets and parking monies in shell companies. In the second PIL, he has accused the chief minister of misusing his office to avail stone mining lease in his name.
Naveen Kumar, the secretary general of Advocates Association of Jharkhand High Court said that around 130 lawyers of Jharkhand High Court have signed the petition to demand a holiday in Jharkhand High Court on the occasion of Hool Diwas. “Their demand is specifically about Jharkhand High Court, not the district court,” Naveen Kumar clarified. There are 4500 lawyers registered at Jharkhand High Court.
Hul Diwas marks the contribution of tribal martyrs Sido, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav. Bhognadih village in Barhet block in Sahibganj district is treated as the epicentre of the Santhal Hul (rebellion) against the British Raj in 1855, two years before the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. It was India’s first freedom movement.
