The Delhi high court Bar Association is mustering support for a boycott of the court of justice Valmiki Mehta on December 19.

This move has few precedents and is purportedly on account of “brusque remarks” by some judges, allegedly justice Mehta in particular. These, the bar claims, “are not just demeaning to the individual, but lower the dignity of the institution in the eyes of litigants and the public.”

“It looks like the bar can be subjected to the caprices of a ‘knight errand’ despite the fact that it conducts its business as prudent officers of the court,” the resolution (signed by the honorary secretary Mohit Mathur) claims.

The resolution claims that justice Mehta, in particular, is “unduly harsh in imposing excessive costs on an unprecedented scale and his demeanor has been found wanting.”

In more general terms, the association has claimed that “there is a growing tendency among the judges in our HC to impose costs in pending litigations, without there being any cause that warrants such a denigrating measure.”

The Bar’s executive council has authorised that the chief justice of the Delhi high court and the chief justice of India and the collegium be requested that justice Mehta denied further extension from his tenure or confirmed.

However, this resolution has not been effected for the moment. Proposed boycott for a day is the one likely to be effected on Wednesday.