The Ahmedabad court strike entered its sixth day on October 9, with more than 16,000 cases reportedly stalled across the city and rural courts as lawyers protested the proposed Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026, and raised additional demands concerning legal protections and police procedure.
The strike has affected the City Civil and Sessions Court, Small Causes Court, Family Court, metropolitan criminal courts and Ahmedabad rural courts. The Nav Gujarat Samay report said the courts remained fully closed, leaving litigants and witnesses who had travelled from distant places unable to proceed with their matters.
The Ahmedabad Bar Association has announced that the protest will continue until October 10 unless the state government provides a written assurance. Since the strike began, scheduled matters have been adjourned, while access to several court premises has remained restricted.
According to the report, the main court gates were closed from the morning, and litigants, witnesses and lawyers were stopped outside the premises. Lawyers set up a temporary shelter in the court compound, placed chairs and held what was described as a peaceful but firm protest. Young lawyers, including members of Generation Z, also participated.
At the metropolitan court, junior lawyers symbolically burned copies of the proposed Rent Bill to register their opposition. The legislation has become the central issue behind the strike, although the protest has widened to include demands for implementation of an Advocates Protection Act and enforcement of the Supreme Court’s Arnesh Kumar judgment.
The Arnesh Kumar issue concerns arrests in offences punishable with up to seven years of imprisonment. Criminal lawyers told the publication that investigating police officers are required to place before the court the reasons for arresting or not arresting an accused. The lawyers alleged that police officers often act arbitrarily and fail to provide the required reasons, affecting the work and income of criminal advocates.
The lawyers have demanded that the law and home departments issue urgent directions to the police on the matter. They have also called on office-bearers of the Bar Council to make an appropriate representation to the central government.
The strike has also exposed divisions within the legal community. The report said one group supports the complete shutdown and continued protest, while another wants court proceedings to resume. The working president of the Ahmedabad Bar Association alleged that previous office-bearers had taken decisions arbitrarily without consulting ordinary lawyers.
A separate demand has been raised for the removal of the association’s working vice-president, I.D. Pathan, over alleged political-party links. The report did not provide a state government response or confirm any formal resolution of the dispute. The immediate next milestone is the lawyers’ October 10 deadline for continuing the strike in the absence of a written assurance from the government.
