Supreme Court: The 3-judge Bench comprising of CJ Dipak Misra and A.M. Khanwilkar and Dr D.Y. Chandrachud, JJ., dismissed the petition filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking ban on legislators practising as advocates.
The petitioner, in his plea, claimed that the parliamentarians and legislators, practising as lawyers, posed a conflict of interest and violated the provisions of the Advocates Act and the Bar Council of India Rules. Furthermore, such legislators take a fee from litigants and salary from the public exchequer, which is professional misconduct.
However, the Supreme Court stated that there is no rule that debars lawmakers from practising in the Courts. Court takes note of stand of Bar Council of India (BCI). Therefore, the Court held that Rule 49 is not applicable to law makers who are not full-time salaried employees.
[Source: https://twitter.com/TheLeaflet_in]