The lawyers’ strike in Ferozepur entered its fifth day on Friday and extended till October 12. Lawyers are protesting against the proposed shifting of nearly 1500 cases pending in Gurharsahai courts to Jalalabad.

On October 12, a delegation of lawyers will meet the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court requesting him to withhold the shifting of 1500 cases for the time being.

Litigants, who have cases pending in Ferozepur courts, are being harassed due to the strike. Many of them are waiting to apply for bail in criminal cases. “Their dates have been extended, because we are fighting for a genuine cause,” said Sukhdev Singh Nagpal, president of Lawyers association, Ferozepur. The judicial complex in Jalalabad is being constructed for the last year with a cost of Rs 3 crore and most of the complex is ready. It will be fully operational in a few months.

Residents of Jalalabad demanded that since the courts have begun functioning in the complex, local cases should also be shifted to these courts so that litigants need not to travel to Ferozepur. Lawyers, however, protested fearing a loss in their revenue.