Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said the proposed amendments by the Law Commission in the Advocates Act were ‘draconian, anti-lawyer, unconstitutional, undemocratic and anti-people’. He went on to say that the recommendations of the Law Commission were against the legal profession and that the legal education of the country was in danger because of this proposed bill. ‘The regulation and control of legal profession and legal education is proposed to be handed over to non-lawyers and the advocates will have to face the disciplinary proceedings before people not connected with the legal profession,’ he added.

Gov urged to reject proposal

The Council is urging the government to reject the recommendations of the Law Commission pointing out that the Commission appeared to have acted in haste without considering the recommendations of the BCI and instead considering the suggestions of only non-lawyers. 'It (proposed bill) has defined the misconduct in such a provocative manner that any judge, judicial official or a client can easily say that the behaviour of the lawyer was unlawful, disgraceful or dishonourable,' the Council said. 'In a nutshell, the Council is of the unanimous opinion that the autonomy, democracy and the mandate of the Constitution of the country are proposed to be throttled by the said bill.'

Strike

Judicial work in Delhi was paralysed on March 23 when some 6,000 lawyers went on strike to protest against suggestions that lawyers should be banned from going on strike and faced with penalties if they do.