Should lawmakers be banned from practising law? SC seeks AG's view

NEW DELHI: In what could discomfit top lawyers who are also Members of Parliament or assemblies, the Supreme Court on Friday sought attorney general K K Venugopal's assistance to decide whether to entertain a PIL which seeks to bar MPs and MLAs from practising law in courts.


Citing Rule 49 of Bar Council of India, the regulatory body for lawyers, petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay said no salaried person can practise law even if he had professional qualification and registered as an advocate with the Bar Council concerned. "There is absolutely no doubt that an MP receives a salary from the government as per Article 106 of the Constitution," he said.


Citing a 1966 judgement, the petitioner said the SC had rejected a doctor's petition seeking permission to practise as an advocate. The petitioner said it would be a clear violation of rules and professional ethics for an advocate to take salary and perquisites, including official residence, from the government as an MP and at the same time take fee from private litigants and appear against the government. "It would amount to professional misconduct," he said.

At present, the renowned lawyers who are also MPs include P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, K T S Tulsi (all Congress) and Kalyan Banerjee (TMC). When Congress was in power, leading lawyers-cum-MPs Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP) used to practise as advocates in courts. U padhyay in his petition said: "It is pertinent to state that as the MPs have the power of voting on the impeachment of Judges of the Supreme Court and high courts. Therefore, allowing them to practice as an Advocate in the SC and HCs is a very serious "Conflict of Interest" because it may allow the Judges to feel beholden to them and to oblige them."

The petitioner said that as MPs these advocates were entitled to debate and dissect Bills on various issues in Parliament. Can they appear for a private client and challenge the very same law in a court of law without giving rise to the question of conflict of interest, he asked.

"Many MPs are Director of private firms, are corporate retainers and appear against the central, state and local governments to defend their lawbreaker clients in court of law, which is not only unethical and immoral but also a 'professional misconduct' and a financial corruption," he said.