September 25,2018:
On Tuesday, Supreme Court held that there is no bar on the MPs and MLAs doubling up as Lawyers.
Judgment by a three-judge Bench comprising of CJI Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud came as a great relief for many sitting MPs across the political parties who are practising lawyers in Supreme Court and various High Courts.
Judgment was authored by Justice Khanwilkar stated that MPs and MLAs do not come under the definition of full-time paid employees of the state.
Supreme Court upheld the earlier decision of Bar Council of India, which had also declined to issue such a ban on legislators practising as lawyers.
Writ Petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay had stated that legislators donning the lawyers' robes is a “matter of serious concern to both the judiciary and the legislature.”
It had further stated that,“They also utilise their position as MPs/MLAs to be visible in the public domain, including on television where they give interviews or participate in shows. This essentially amounts to advertising as their “brand” is promoted among the public, many of whom are potential litigants. This virtually seamless transition between the two spheres by these legislators is causing irreversible harm to both the profession and public interest”..
SC Bench dismissed the arguments made in the petition that such legal practice by lawmakers is in violation of Rule 49 of the Bar Council of India Act, which forbids an advocate to be “full-time salaried employee of any person, government, firm, corporation or concern, so long as he continues to practice”.
Source Hindu
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