THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The move by the Bar Association of India to approach the Central Government for necessary amendments in the Advocates Act to provide legal professionals the freedom to advertise their professional capabilities has evoked mixed reaction from the members of the Trivandrum Bar Association.

The proposed amendment, which aims at ensuring a "level-playing field" for the practising legal professionals, will give them the liberty to host websites and print brochures to disseminate information about the services rendered to the litigants. But not everyone seems to be in favour of the idea.

"Our demand is to maintain the status quo," says N. Sivaramakrishnan Nair, president, Trivandrum Bar Association. "Advertising legal services will affect the integrity of advocacy," he says. "Advocacy is a noble profession. It is not something to be solicited through advertisements. A good lawyer gains reputation among the litigants through practise and not by marketing himself," says Mr. Sivaramakrishnan.

"The move to advertise legal services is hypocrisy. This is a direct outcome of commercialisation," he added.

This point was backed by S.R. Jayakumar, public prosecutor. "People with money and resources will always be in a better position to market themselves. This will lead to an unhealthy competition among lawyers," he says.

"The move is against the basic spirit of the Advocates Act and will only help to create different category of lawyers. A litigant should come to the lawyer and not the other way round," says Mr. Jayakumar.

But then there are advocates like Sasthamangalam Ajith and Clarance Miranda who believe the move can actually make the legal profession "more transparent and accessible." They argue that a system of advertising legal services through websites and brochures is already in vogue in most of the European countries.

"Through advertisements, the litigants will be able to identify a good lawyer from the bad. It (advertisements) will make the public aware about the area an advocate is specialising in and his professional competency. This will eventually eliminate quacks and middlemen," says Mr. Ajith. However, according to him, there should be clarity on the contents of the proposed advertisement.

"There should be a guideline on what an advertisement should contain and what it should not," he says. The necessary rules have to be framed by a committee appointed by the Supreme Court in consultation with the Bar Council of India, he added.

According to Mr. Miranda, Article 20 of the Constitution guarantees a citizen the right to appoint a counsel or a pleader of his/her choice to conduct a case.

For this the public will have to know what an advocate is specialising in and the proficiency in the respective area.

"Only then will a litigant be able to entrust him with a case," says Mr. Miranda.

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