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Foreign law firms/ lawyers cannot practice in India; SC answer 5 Questions
Case Law Details
- Case Name
- Bar Council Of India Vs. A.K. Balaji And Ors. (Supreme Court)
- Appeal Number
- Only available for paid members
- Date of Judgement/Order
- Only available for paid members
- Courts
- Supreme Court of India
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Bar Council Of India Vs. A.K. Balaji And Ors. (Supreme Court)
We have considered the rival submissions. Questions for consideration mainly arise out of directions in para 63 of the Madras High Court judgment which have already been quoted in the beginning of this judgment. viz. :
(i) Whether the expression ‘practise the profession of law’ includes only litigation practice or non-litigation practice also;
(ii) Whether such practice by foreign law firms or foreign lawyers is permissible without fulfilling the requirements of Advocates Act and the Bar Council of India...
Other than Advocate cannot definitely make Suo Moto appearance before revenue authority by the strength of power of attorney, but can definitely appear before revenue authority against specific summons issued to them. Hitherto Non-Advocates were appearing on own motion, this is not definitely permitted in future.
All others can appear only with the permission of the court, authority or person
BCI vs A.K.Balaji case reached finality today the 13.03.2018 in Apex Court of India. Now it’s well settled that in order to plead & act in the course of practice of law, both in litigious & non litigious matter, enrollment in Bar Council must
Section 29 of the 1961 Act specifcally provides that from the appointed day, there shall be only one class of
persons entitled to practice the profession of
law, namely Advocates. It is apparent that
prior to the 1961 Act there were different
classes of persons entitled to practise the
profession of law and from the appointed day
all these class of persons practising the profession of law, would form one class, namely, advocates. Thus, Section 29 of the 1961 Act clearly provides that from the
appointed day only advocates are entitled to
practise the profession of law whether before
any Court/authority/person
Thus, we uphold the view that practice of law includes litigation as well as non litigation. We have already held that practicing of law includes not only appearance in courts but also giving of opinion, drafting of instruments, participation in conferences involving legal discussion
These are parts of non-litigation practice which is part of practice of law. Scheme in Chapter-IV of the Advocates Act makes it clear that advocates enrolled with the Bar Council alone are entitled to practice law, except as otherwise provided in any other law. All others can appear only with the permission of the court, authority or
person before whom the proceedings are pending. Non-Advocates can only appear before revenue authority on behalf of clients against specific summons issued. I.e., Suo Moto appearance of Non-Advocates before revenue authority by the strength of Power of Attorney not allowed
Regulatory mechanism for conduct of advocates applies to non-litigation work also. Other professionals have no regulatory mechanism to practice law in India & hence they can not practice law any more in India