Rights of clients come to fore

Hyderabad: Though lawyers are opposing the Bill, certain individuals, among them aggrieved clients, are advocating a strict regulatory mechanism for protecting the rights of clients who have engaged the services of lawyers in their search for justice.

These individuals who had approached the Bar Council against certain advocates, on condition of anonymity, said the existing rules were not sufficient to deter wrongdoers in legal practice.

They said that the Law Commission, while reviewing the Advocates Act, felt that the conduct of advocates, directly and indirectly, affected the functioning of the courts, and thereby contributed to the pendency of cases. The commission felt that some provisions would be necessary to regulate the conduct of advocates in court.

Officials of the Bar Council of AP and Telangana pointed out that the provisions under Chapter V of the Advocates Act, 1961 empowered the Bar Council to reprimand or suspend an advocate from practice for such period as it may deem fit and also remove the name of the advocate from the State rolls. As of now, there are no provisions for imposing fine or awarding compensation to the client, they added.

Mr G. Rama Prasad, a retired employee of the State Bank of India, who has written to the Chief Justice of India on several occasions regarding the lapses in the judicial system, said that there should be a regulatory mechanism to protect the rights of clients.

Mr Ramavatharam, former general secretary of HAL Employees' Cooperative Housing Society, pointed out that when there is an audit for doctors, government employees, and people working in other sectors, why not an audit of the conduct and practice of advocates.

He said that he had made a complaint against a lawyer and other officers who had misled the High Court in a land issue, and had presented the evidence, but no action had been taken against them. He said he could not lodge a complaint as he was not a client of the lawyer against whom he made the complaint.