The Hindu : New Delhi News : Court ruling on designation of senior advocate

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Court ruling on designation of senior advocate

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has struck down income as a prerequisite for designating an advocate as a senior advocate, saying that the rule was ultra vires as the provisions of the Advocates Act do not permit it.

The ruling by a three-Judge Bench of the Court came on a petition by an advocate who had challenged the powers of the High Court administration to frame rules for designating senior advocates, submitting that the Act empowers the Bar Council of India to frame them.

The petitioner, D. S. Chaudhary, had challenged the rule that an advocate should have a gross professional income of Rs.12 lakh or a net professional income of not less than Rs.6 lakh per year during each of the two preceding years.

Income criterion

Allowing the petitioner’s plea for quashing the income criterion, the Bench comprising Justice A. K. Sikri, Justice V. B. Gupta and Justice Manmohan Singh said: “We find force in this submission of the petitioner. Income is not the criterion or yardstick which is laid down in Section 16 of the Advocates Act. The considerations specified in the substantive provisions for designation of senior advocates are `ability’, `standing in the Bar’ and `special knowledge or experience in law.”

“There may be advocates who fulfil the specified criteria but have lesser income than what is specified in the rule dealing with the income criterion. The purpose of designating an advocate a senior advocate is not for the benefit of that individual alone but for the benefit of the Bar as well as the public at large,” the Bench added. However, the Bench dismissed the petitioner’s plea that the High Court did not have the powers to frame rules for designation of senior advocates.

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