BCI and High Court Bar Associations demand new legislation to replace collegium system

After conducting meeting with all State Bar Councils on April 9, the Bar Council of India today met with the representatives of all the High Court Bar Associations to continue its crusade against the proposed changes to the Advocates Act..Today’s resolution like the previous one also calls for a nation-wide demonstration on April 21, wherein lawyers will burn copies of the Law Commission’s Advocates (Amendment) Bill of 2017. The BCI has asked all lawyers across the country to abstain from work post-lunch on April 21. The BCI has also demanded the resignation of Law Commission Chairman Justic`e BS Chauhan..However, BCI in its today’s meeting has gone a step further. The BCI and Bar Associations want the Union Government to come out with a new legislation replacing collegium system in order to ensure transparency in appointment of judges. The BCI has also demanded a legislation for accountability of judges..The BCI and other lawyers’ bodies have expressed displeasure at several of the changes proposed by the Law Commission, the major one being, the composition of State Bar Councils. The Commission has suggested that these bodies comprise of persons from non-law backgrounds and that they be headed by retired High Court and Supreme Court judges. These suggestions, the BCI says, has put the entire legal profession in jeopardy..Also among the demands in the resolution are welfare schemes and benefits for lawyers and their dependents. These include insurance, medi-claim, pension, stipend for young lawyers, sitting arrangements in court premises, loans for vehicles, etc..The BCI has also directed State Bar Councils to convene a meeting on April 16 so as to make all lawyers aware of the protests against the changes. It is also proposed that a memorandum of demands be handed to the central government..Should their recommendations not be paid heed to, the BCI has called upon various lawyers’ associations to carry out a march on May 2 from Patiala House to Rajghat. The resolution even shows that they are willing to undertake a ‘Jail Bharo’ campaign, if their demands are not met after May 2..Making sure to cover its own bases, the BCI goes on to say that the Law Commission “spread a totally false and misleading rumour” when it said that its recommendations were based on inputs of the BCI. The resolution states that Justice Chauhan had prepared the report on March 7 itself, before the BCI’s recommendations were submitted, and that Abhay Bhardwaj, an ad-hoc member of the Commission, had opposed the proposed changes..The BCI also plans to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to vent their grievances..Read the resolution: