Won't ask advocates to abstain from court: Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
Chennai: The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Thursday informed the Madras high court that it will not call upon the advocates to abstain from courts nor indulge in any agitation or disrupt any activities in the courts.
Advocate Pothiraj, appearing for BCTP gave an undertaking to this effect when a Public Interest Litigation from K Muthuramalingam, a suspended lawyer, came up for hearing before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar.
The Bar Council of India had sent a communication to the state bar councils setting out an agitation programme against the recent recommendations of the Law Commission of India, which was forwarded to the Union government. Following this communication, the BCTP has called for a meeting on April 16 to hold discussions with various associations about the communication sent by the BCI.
In his petition, Muthuramalingam sought to restrain Bar Council of India and BCTP from organising and instigating bar associations and advocate members to abstain from courts, burning of law commission reports in and near the court’s premises in the state of TN and Puducherry.
Advocate L Sridhar, appearing for the petitioner sought an urgent relief to restrain the BCTP from holding the meeting on April 16. Bar council is a statutory body to regulate the conduct of advocates and therefore, it cannot arrogate itself to instigate its members to do certain acts which directly offending the law of the land. The report of the law commission was in its embryo stage. The BCI has aggravated the situation by issuing the circular. The BCI had declared that the unruly behaviour of the advocates cannot be tolerated and action will be taken. It also took action against lawyers who indulged in a boycott and other protests in TN. However, now the BCI itself was instigating the lawyers to indulge in agitation, Sridhar added.
Disposing of the petition, the bench said a letter has been issued by the BCI to the secretaries of all state bar councils relating to the agitation programme. As per the letter, on April 16, the state bar council was to convene a meeting with all representatives of all the associations in order to make them aware of the agitation programme. Pothiraj, counsel appearing for the state bar council submitted “In view of this undertaking, we do not think it is necessary to pass any order restraining the bar council from holding the meeting”, the bench added.
