Can Lawmakers Continue To Be Lawyers? BCI Issues Notice to More Than 500 MPs, MLAs

New Delhi: A three-member expert committee, constituted by the Bar Council of India to decide whether law makers can be lawyers, has decided to issue notices to more than 500 lawyers who are MPs, MLAs and MLCs.

Advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, the Chairman of the expert committee, told News18: "The decision to issue notices was taken so that if the BCI cancels their enrolments, they cannot claim that principle of natural Justice has been violated".

The notice will appear by tomorrow in newspapers and within a week they have to furnish their replies. The final hearing will take place on January 22.

Some of the names that are under the radar include: Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, KTS Tulsi, P Chidambaram, Vivek Tankha, K Parasaran, Bhupendra Yadav, Meenakshi Lekhi, Pinaki Mishra, Satish Mishra and Ashwini Kumar.

The committee had earlier delayed its report on disqualification of practising lawyers who also function as MPs and MLAs after the applicant raised the 'serious conflict of interest' problem.

BJP leader and Supreme Court advocate, Ashwini Upadhyay, who had filed a plea to debar lawyers, said there is a clear conflict of interest as MPs and MLA have powers to "impeach judges".

"MPs have the power to initiate impeachment proceedings against the judges, which, in turn, would mean, pressuring them to give a favourable verdict when they plead before them in a case. This is clearly a very serious conflict of interest," read the additional statement filed by Upadhyay on January 4.

"The report could not be tabled today as an additional statement was filed. We are looking at the report being tabled by next Wednesday," BCI Chairman told News18.

The panel, which is considering the application, comprises top lawyers in the Bar Council of India and office bearers —Bhoj Chander Thakur, Rameshchandra G Shah and DP Dhal.

In his application, Ashwini Upadhyay had contended that MPs and MLAs were paid their salaries out of the Consolidated Fund of India and were hence the “employees of the state”.

The application stated that “many MPs, MLAs appear as an advocate even during Parliament/Legislative Assembly session and participate in matters that affect the financial interests of the country and with a person with whom they have a prospective employment”.

Upadhyay said that a legislator plays important role in development of his State. He can fulfil his developmental role under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). Under the scheme, every MP is allocated Rs 5 crore per year for initiating developmental works in his constituency.

He claimed that appearing as an advocate does not augur well with their Constitutional mandate and hence they must be barred from practising while also serving as public representatives.

On December 21, the Bar Council of India had constituted an expert committee to look into an application which seeks to debar MPs and MLAs from practising as lawyers on the grounds that it is “against the spirit of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India.”