Supreme Court directs BCI to establish national legal academy for lawyers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to establish a National Legal Academy for advocates, on the lines of the National Judicial Academy, which trains judges.

A Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe further opined that BCI must undertake a performance audit of the efficacy of its disciplinary powers and institutionalise discipline and culture of continuing legal education among lawyers.

"BCI shall establish a national legal academy for advocates like there is national judicial academy for judges," the Court directed.

The Court passed the direction while dealing with a petition challenging Indian Banks' Association's decision to put an advocate on its caution list after his removal from a panel by Canara Bank in connection with a wrong legal opinion.

The Court ruled that the counsel's inclusion in caution list solely on the basis of negligence was unsustainable in law. It added that while banks have a choice to remove counsel from their panel, there cannot be a public declaration about such action.

It also ruled that matters relating to professional conduct/misconduct falls exclusively within regulatory bodies, namely the BCI.