Pandya, Uppal et al in Drafting Committee to propose Advocates Act amendments

In the wake of the condemnation of the Law Commission of India’s proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, an eight-member Drafting Committee has been formed to look into the issue..Earlier this month, a meeting was held in Delhi involving High Court Bar Associations and State Bar Councils from around the country. The representatives of these associations unanimously resolved to reject the Law Commission Report termed as “draconian, anti-lawyer and undemocratic”..During that meeting, the BCI had decided to form an internal Drafting Committee consisting of eight members to review all the suggestions made by the Law Commission..President of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association and one of the members of the Committee, Asim Pandya, confirmed the same to Bar & Bench..“The Drafting Committee members met at Delhi On July 22nd and 23rd. We have started the work, and we will come out with a report to counter the Law Commission’s report. We will try to finish before August 15.”.Apart from Pandya, the Committee comprises convenor Jayant D Jaibhave, member of the Bar Council of Maharashtra; Kirti Uppal, President of the Delhi High Court Bar Association; Shirish Mehrotra, member of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh; Amit K Vaid, member of the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh; Jitendra Kumar Sharma, member, State Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh; Rajeev Sharan from the Bihar State Bar Council; and Dipen K Dave, member of the Bar Council of Gujarat..It will be interesting to see what amendments the representatives of the State Bar Councils and Bar Associations propose to the Advocates Act, the legislation that governs the functioning of lawyers across the country.