Chief Justice of India TS Thakur has called upon the Bar Council of India (BCI) to take steps toward cleaning up the legal profession in the country..Speaking at a felicitation event on Friday, Justice Thakur addressed a number of issues, including law schools which have a lack of infrastructure. He was quoted as saying,.“There are law colleges where you may not have faculty, no library or where attendance will not be marked. I believe there are law colleges where you have to just go and pay the fees, the rest is taken care off..How can a legal profession or how can you tolerate this kind of situation? I believe this is a great responsibility cast upon the BCI and bar councils to shut down such shops.”.The Madras High Court had taken up this cause last year. However, its solution was a rather extreme one, recommending the abolition of the 3-year course altogether. This is a suggestion that the BCI strongly disagreed with..He also expressed concerns over the increasing number of “unwanted members” at the Bar..“Unwanted and unprofessional members in the bar and their isolation and removal are also a challenge. I can assure that the real core of the profession is very good. But there are some people who enter into this profession because it adds respectability.”.The BCI has already attempted to move towards this end, by notifying the Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015. Though it firmly believes that the Rules will be instrumental in weeding out unnecessary elements, many lawyers, especially the non-litigating ones, have expressed reservations over the legislation..In fact, the Karnataka High Court last year had temporarily stayed the operation of the Rules in the state. Subsequently, the Supreme Court supported the BCI’s initiative and stayed the proceedings challenging the Rules at various high courts..Lastly, Justice Thakur discussed the need for appointing an independent tribunal to deal with cases of indiscipline at the Bar..“So you (BCI) need to deal with such elements very very seriously. Appointing a tribunal for disciplinary action can be one such thing. If you have five lawyers sitting to decide disciplinary action against another lawyer, it will be embarrassing. Why should you face that embarrassment? Why not have independent tribunal for the action which you (BCI) say can’t be tolerated at any cost?”.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
