Lawyers on BMC, state roll cannot practise in court

Swati Deshpande TNN 

Mumbai: The civic body will soon have to get a new army of lawyers to represent it in courts. This is because the Bombay high court has held that law officers employed by the BMC cannot practise as advocates in courts to represent the civic body. 
    Similarly, all assistant public prosecutors cannot be appointed as district court judges as they are employees of the state, said a full-bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, V M Kanade and A A Sayed. In both cases, there would be a conflict of interest and duty if held otherwise, said the high court. 
    At present, the BMC is engaged as an active party in over 4,000 cases in courts. While BMC’s special counsel Milind Sathe sought a year’s time to make the necessary administrative changes, the high court said six months should suffice. 
    A provision in the Advocates Act framed by the Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex governing body of lawyers, prohibits full-time salaried employees from practising as lawyers in court. The prohibition is to protect the independent autonomy of an advocate as a member of the legal profession, said the BCI. An exception to the rule was made to allow the BMC and government law officers to appear and plead on behalf of the civic body and the state in courts before judges. Earlier this year, the BCI deleted the exception. 
    The full bench has now held that the deletion was correct as a “lawyer owes duty first to the cause of justice as an officer of the court”. “The Maharashtra Judicial Service Rules ensure independence and integrity of district judges in the state. It is the judiciary as an institution at the level of talukas and districts which comes into interface with the lives of citizens. The people’s perception in the district judiciary determines the credibility of the institution,” observed the court.


Source:::: The Times of India, 18-10-2012, p.05. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW