Delhi High Court asks NCT government to consider draft Advocates Protection Bill prepared by Delhi bar associations

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi government to consider the draft Advocates Protection Bill that the Coordination Committee of All District Courts Bar Associations has presented and to hold a stakeholder consultation on the same..Justice Prathiba M Singh ordered that after the examination of the draft bill and consultation, an action taken report should be furnished to the Court.“Let GNCTD take steps to consider the representation submitted. Let stakeholder consultation also be done. After consultation and examination of the draft bill, let the action taken report be furnished,” the Court said..Justice Singh passed the order while dealing with a plea filed by Advocates Deepa Joseph and Alpha Phiris Dayal seeking enactment of an Advocates Protection Act for the national capital.Advocate KC Mittal appeared for the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) and informed the Court that the Coordination Committee has prepared a draft of the bill and sent it to the Delhi government.The Court then passed the order asking the government to consider the same. The case will now be considered on September 6..In their plea, Joseph and Dayal have argued that there is an alarming rise in the incidents of violence against lawyers in Delhi's courts.“Only an Act that guarantees protection to the fraternity of lawyers practising in Delhi will help remove the sense of fear that has embedded in the minds, particularly among young first-generation lawyers like the Petitioners herein due to the repeated acts of firing inside court premises and altercations to state the least,” the plea stated.The petition was filed in the backdrop of the murder of Advocate Virender Narwal, who was shot dead in Dwarka. .Read details of the Delhi Advocates (Protection) Bill, 2023 here.