Bar Councils must collect data on lawyers facing criminal records, says Madras High Court
The Madras High Court has directed the Bar Council of India to collect empirical data on the number of advocates facing criminal charges. The judge expressed concern that lawyers with criminal records are increasingly holding leadership positions in Bar Associations.
Why it matters
This addresses systemic concerns regarding the integrity of the legal profession and the potential conflict of interest for officers of the court.
It is high time for the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP) to engage the services of competent researchers for collecting empirical data regarding the number of advocates facing criminal cases, the Madras High Court has said.
Justice D. Bharata Chakravarty, holding the criminal cases quash portfolio, made the observation after coming across 30 to 40 criminal cases involving practicing advocates on almost every working day. The judge expressed concern over the alarming number of such cases faced by lawyers.
He told Government Advocate (criminal side) M. Mohamed Riyaz that a considerable number of petitions were being filed in the High Court on a daily basis either by the practicing advocates or by the law graduates to quash the criminal cases pending against them.
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