Centre withdraws amendments to Advocates Act after protests by lawyers, Bar Council
The proposed legislation would have prohibited boycotts or abstentions from court proceedings.
The Union government on Saturday withdrew the contentious draft 2025 Advocates Amendment Bill after protests by lawyers and objections from the Bar Council of India.
The Union law ministry said that the draft legislation will be “processed afresh for consultation with stakeholders” based on the feedback it had received.
The bill was published on February 13 for public consultation until February 28.
The draft legislation sought to amend the 1961 Advocates Act. It faced criticism from lawyers and the Bar Council of India.
In a letter to Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Wednesday, the council’s chief and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manan Kumar Mishra had said that the bill endangered the autonomy of the Bar Council of India, Bar and Bench reported.
The bill provided for the Union government to nominate up to three members to the Bar Council of India, issue directions to the council and frame regulations for foreign lawyers and law firms, The Indian Express reported. The draft legislation also expanded the definition of a “legal practitioner” to include lawyers working with foreign law firms and corporate entities.
The proposed amendment to the Advocates Act would have introduced a new section that prohibited boycotts or abstentions from court proceedings.
The Opposition said that the bill was “poorly drafted” and had demanded that it be withheld until there were more consultations with stakeholders.
“Instead of creating a proper forum to allow lawyers to raise their grievances and issues, the proposed bill takes away lawyers’ rights to raise legitimate demands by way of a boycott or abstinence from work with the imposition of penal consequences,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said on Thursday.
Singhvi heads the Congress’ legal unit.
“The proposed bill allows for excessive government interference into the composition, practice and procedure of professional regulatory bodies, thereby deviating from the principle of self-autonomy and self-independence as upheld by the Supreme Court of India,” he added.
