The Hindu : Kerala News : Bar Council to act against practice by retired lawyers

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Monday, Jul 05, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Bar Council to act against practice by retired lawyers

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, JULY 4. In a bid to check the practise by "retired lawyers" starting their legal profession afresh after availing the Advocates Welfare Fund, the Bar Council of Kerala has decided to take appropriate action against such former lawyers.

In a letter sent to all presidents and secretaries of all the Bar Associations in the State, the Bar Council secretary, N.S. Gopakumar, said that the advocates who wanted to avail of the retirements benefits from the Advocates' Welfare Fund should remove their names from the State Roll of Advocates of the Bar Council as per the rules framed under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act. He pointed out that the retirement for the purpose of availing the benefits meant stoppage of practice as an advocate as recorded by the Bar Council .The "cessation of practice" as mentioned in the rules meant removal of the name of an advocate from the State Roll maintained by the Bar Council on account of his/her retirement or death. So, there was no ambiguity that on receiving the payment of benefits from the Advocates' Welfare Fund Committee, " the recipient is completely severed from the legal profession and he cannot any more enjoy or claim the privileges available to the advocates in practice".

The Bar Council wrote the letter as it had been brought to its the notice that certain advocates, after availing of the benefits of Welfare Fund, were still displaying in their names the words "advocates" and also using advocates' car stickers. The letter pointed out that as per the Advocates Act, "Advocate means an advocate entered in any roll under the provisions of the Act". As such, use of Advocate along with their names, without being an advocate would be illegal and liable to be dealt with under the law. Therefore, the letter requested all the Bar Associations to bring such instance to its notice so that it could take necessary steps to safeguard the rights, privilege and interest of the advocates on its rolls.

Worried about such illegal practices, the Chairman of the Bar Council, K.B. Mohandas, has suggested amendment to the Advocates Act; 1961, in order to make it mandatory for advocates to renew their registration every five year. He said that several advocates refused or failed to suspend their practices or at least inform the Bar Council while retiring from the profession or taking up permanent job or employment. Besides, there were many advocates who were actively "involved in full time politics or full time business without attending the court at all or practising law". The benefits under the Welfare Fund were "cleverly bagged by several such persons who are not practising law at all," he said.

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