BCI to meet this weekend to discuss amendments to Advocates Act

In the aftermath of the widespread protests against the Law Commission’s proposed changes to the Advocates Act, the Bar Council of India (BCI) will convene a joint meeting with various lawyers’ bodies this weekend..BCI Co-Chairman and Senior Advocate S Prabhakaran confirmed the news and said that all High Court Bar Associations will meet on July 8 to discuss changes to the Act, while the State Bar Councils will have a meeting with the BCI at Delhi on July 9..Prabhakaran also said that Ministry of Law and Justice had sent a letter assuring the BCI that the Law Commission’s proposed changes will not be implemented. The Law Ministry also asked the regulatory body to garner opinions from lawyers across the country as regards the changes to the Act..The Law Commission had released its 266th Report in March this year, sparking a series of protests throughout the country. The Commission, headed by Chairman Justice BS Chauhan, had come out with the report pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions in Mahipal Singh Rana v. State of UP..The Supreme Court Bar Association had earlier criticised the BCI for submitting a report to the Law Commission on the Advocates Act without soliciting its views. The Delhi Bar Association had also resolved to protest the proposed amendments, which, among other things, sought to outlaw lawyers’ strikes..In response, the BCI claimed its views were not considered by the Law Commission, and condemned the proposed changes as being “draconian, anti-lawyer and unconstitutional”..The BCI also stated that it had formed an Advisory Committee to make recommendations to “take care of the intent and the purport” of the Supreme Court’s directions in Mahipal Rana..The Committee was headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Shivraj Patil and comprised three sitting Chief Justices of high courts, “several” sitting high court judges, as well as eleven Senior Advocates. However, the BCI laments, the recommendations of this Committee were not considered by the Law Commission.