Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The lawyers staged protest against the proposed bill aimed at amending Advocates Act, 1961. The Bar Council of India on Wednesday wrote to law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal seeking reconsideration of several provisions in the draft amendment to Advocates Act, 1961, which it said “would undermine the BCI’s autonomy”.
On Friday, the lawyers staged protest against The Advocates Act (amendment) Bill 2025 in the state. They said proposed amendment would take away lawyers’ rights to raise legitimate demands by way of a boycott or by abstaining from work, with imposition of penal consequences.
According to lawyers, the proposed amendment allows for excessive government interference in the composition, practice and procedure of professional regulatory bodies, thereby deviating from the principle of self-autonomy and self-independence as upheld by the Supreme Court. The insertion of Section 4(1)(d), which allows Central government to nominate three members to Bar Council of India, has been termed a “draconian provision" by lawyers.
Lawyers have also objected to proposed shift of regulatory authority over foreign lawyers and law firms from the Bar Council to the Central Government. If the Bar Council of India regulates Indian lawyers, it should also regulate foreign lawyers, they added. A newly introduced Section 3(5)(b) imposes restrictions on advocates contesting elections for State Bar Councils or the Bar Council of India if they have pending criminal trials or disciplinary proceedings. They objected to the provision that would prohibit lawyers from observing strike and abstaining from work.
