Delhi HC lawyers join agitation against bill to regulate legal education

Lawyers of the Delhi high court joined protest against a bill, which aims to regulate legal education and profession, even as work at all the six district courts in the capital remained affected for the second day.

The high court lawyers, who had not joined the stir yesterday, kept away from work today as part of the two-day nation-wide protest called by the Bar Council of India (BCI).

The government has been accused by the council of attempting to usurp its power to regulate legal education and profession in the country through the proposed Higher Education and Research (HER) Bill.

The stir hit proceedings in the 2G spectrum scam case at the Patiala House court, which could be held only for half-an-hour in the morning, after which these had to be adjourned.

While litigants turned up at the court, their advocates did not, and in most cases only proxy counsel appeared to obtain the next date of hearing. Lawyers, who did appear in court, came dressed in clothes other than their regular black robes.

In an attempt to reach out to the legal community last week, law minister Kapil Sibal wrote a letter saying the HER Bill would not infringe upon the powers of the BCI.