Court gives assurance on Advocates Act

D Selvam, Chairman, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, told reporters here on Wednesday, that Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had offered an assurance that the MHC was keen on having a relook into the issue and that no action would be taken as per the new rules till a final decision was reached after considering the representations of the various lawyers’ bodies. 

Pointing out that the assurance of the Chief Justice should be enough for lawyers in the state to detest from participating in any more agitations and boycotts, he said bar council had now asked bar associations in subordinate courts and high court to forward their suggestions about the changes they wanted in the rules by June 17. 

He further noted that all the representations would be compiled and submitted to the Chief Justice who has already made it clear that suggestions received from lawyers and associations would be forwarded to the rules committee for necessary action. 

Replying to a pointed question as to whether the Bar Council’s ineffective functioning had led to the High Court framing its own rules, Selvam said the bar council had initiated action against 100 lawyers since 2011 and that its major concern was to safeguard the freedom of practice of lawyers.

Earlier, Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA), president, R C Paul Kanagaraj, told reporters that leaders of bar associations in the state would meet at Tiruchi on June 11 and draft a representation to be submitted to the court.  “We are against boycott, which we too think should be the last resort as mandated by the Supreme Court,” he said.