JAMMU, JULY 24 (KNS): Expressing solidarity with the lawyers currently on protests under the aegis of J&K High Court Bar Association, former minister said senior National Conference leader Mr Ajay Kumar Sadhotra today exhorted the administration not to sit on prestige and accede to the justified demand of relocating all the courts under the same roof and premises.

"This will not only ease the judicial dispensation but will be beneficial for both the lawyers and the litigant public", Mr Sadhotra said in a statement issued here this afternoon. He hoped that the Lieutenant Governor's administration will show sensitivity towards pressing public issues instead of pushing the people to the wall, forcing them to take to the streets and resort to dharnas. It is all the more worrisome when the conscience keepers of the society feel constrained to sit on dharnas and hold protests. He expressed concern over the lawyers abstaining from the work in the District Court Complex Jammu besides the tribunals and the commission that has eventually put the general public in a lot of inconvenience.

Mr Sadhotra said the demands of the legal practitioners with regard to housing of the different Tribunals in single multi dimensional complex of High Court is justifiable in the aftermath of the shifting of district courts. The scattered institutional edifice entails the lawyers to undertake cumbersome movement from one place to the other, especially in view of intermittent traffic jams and the absence of adequate parking spaces. He also supported similar arrangements at all the Districts and Muffasil Courts so that the genuine grievance of the legal fraternity can be redressed.

Mr Sadhotra urged the Lieutenant Governor to engage the striking lawyers in a meaningful dialogue process so that a mutually agreed via media is found to the issue. He also sought adequate funds for the construction of court complexes in the capital city and other areas in the Jammu division Adhocism and delaying tactics won't help in mitigating the problems faced by the lawyers. Therefore, both sides should take to the dialogue route and end the ongoing stalemate, the former minister added.(KNS)