Strike hits Debt Recovery Tribunal

Ahmedabad: For the first time the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) office under the Union ministry of finance witnessed a complete strike on Saturday.
The strike was led by the bar association at the tribunal who protested a six-day working day for the tribunal. Lawyers demanded that the central government's five day week working schedule be made applicable as any central government staff should work for 42 hours in a week - which is five days.The DRT was established to help financial institutions recover dues without the hassle of passing through lengthy procedures of civil courts. The lawyers have threatened that they will not allow any procedures till April 21, if the finance ministry does not withdraw a notification under section 19 that has made six-day working compulsory for the tribunal.
"There are no stenographers to type lengthy tribunal proceedings, nor there is enough competent staff to handle cases. And now the government insists that the tribunal work for six days. We as lawyers need time for case preparations and debt tribunal cases are quite complex. We have declared a strike and will continue till April 21," said Gujarat DRT Advocates' Association president Kulin Shah. tnn