AK Balaji & Foreign Law Firms: Leave granted, matter unlikely to be heard again soon

The debate over foreign law firms entering India, which reached the Supreme Court in July 2012 is unlikely to be resolved any time soon. The apex court granted leave in two appeals – one filed by the Bar Council of India, and the other by the Global Indian Lawyers..Both appeals dealt with the entry of foreign law firms in the country..Listed before the Anil R. Dave and A.K.Goel JJ., the matter saw a number of senior counsels appear including Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar. The Solicitor General told the court that the government would be submitting a response detailing its policy towards liberalisation of the Indian legal market, and foreign law firms..Senior Advocate Arvind P. Datar assisted by Rishi Kumar, Mahesh Agarwal and Abhinav Agarwal of Agarwal Law Associates appeared for the UK law firms and for Ashrust LLP in the GIL petition..Datar told the Court that given the amount of time this issue has been pending, the Central government ought to respond within a pre-decided time limit..The Court directed the Central Government that, as and when any developments happen, an application to list the matter could be filed..MN Krishnamani appeared for the Bar Council Of India, while CU Singh appeared for Lawyers Collective..Singh argued against the hearing of the GIL petition, stating that it is being entertained after six long years. However, the Court reiterated the above directions and granted leave..So what does this mean?.Given the increasing burden on the apex court, this matter is unlikely to be listed again within the next four to five years. Unless one of the parties seek an early hearing of the matter, and that too with sufficient reason, the debate over what foreign law firms can and cannot do will continue to be uncertain.