The expert panel which was constituted by the Bar Council of India to decide whether legislators are allowed to practice law or not has reached a majority decision holding that they can.
However, Advocate S. Prabhakaran, who was a special invitee in the panel, has differed from the majority view and said that MPs and MLAs cannot practice as lawyers due to their conflict of interest. The other committee members - B.C. Thakur, R.G. Shah and D.P. Dhal, were of the view that legislators - MPs, MLAs, and MLCs can be allowed to practice.
Following this, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra after the General Council meeting has decided to defer the final decision for more thorough and wider consultation and discussion. Today we discussed the report submitted by the four-member sub-committee. Out of the four honorable members, three (B.C. Thakur, R.G. Shah, D.P. Dhal) were of the view that legislators MPs, MLAs, and MLCs can be allowed to practice. One member S Prabhakaran said they should be debarred on the grounds of conflict of interest and office of profit, Mishra told reporters. In this view of the matter, the General Council is of the view that the matter needs thorough consideration being a serious issue. Therefore we have deferred the final decision for the next meeting which will be held next week. It is to be noted some of the MPs and MLAs to which we had sent notices had sought eight weeks time for replying. That would also expire next week. So it will meet the end of natural justice before a decision pertaining them is taken. Because they should not say in the end that they were not heard before we took a final decision, said Mishra. Bar Council was acting on a representation of advocate and Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay who argued that MLAs and MPs get salary from the consolidated fund of India, hence, they are employee of the State, and the
BCI rule 49 restricts a salaried employee from practicing as advocate. He also contended that under Prevention of Corruption Act, MLAs and MPs are public servants.
Bar Council of India to Hold AIBE-XV on January 24, 2021 & AIBE-XVI on March 21, 2021 [READ PRESS RELEASE]
Legal Insiders
Dec 23, 2020
Dev Kumar Patel
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Editor: Ekta Joshi
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The Bar Council of India, the apex lawyers’ body and regulator of law education in the country, on 21.12.2020 through press release stated that the All India Bar Exam-XVI will be held on 21st March, 2021. However, the BCI also cleared that there is no change in examination date for AIBE-XV, i.e. January 24, 2021.According to release the online registration will start from December 26, 2020 and the last date for registration will be February 21, 2021.The Bar Council of India said in a...
Gujarat High Court issued notices to the Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Gujarat for depriving Law Graduate the opportunity of taking AIBE Examination [READ ORDER]
Judiciary
Dec 18, 2020
Dev Kumar Patel
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Editor: Ekta Joshi
)
12 Shares
The Gujarat High Court on 15th December 2020 issued notice to Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Gujarat on a petition filed by a law graduate. The petition was filed by a law graduate as application for enrolment with the Bar Council of Gujarat has been kept pending for over a year, thereby depriving her from the opportunity of appearing in the All India Bar Examination.A Single Bench of Justice S H Vora has issued notices to the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of...
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