Bengal lawyers to join protest over Advocates Bill

The Bar Council of West Bengal today asked all the lawyers in the state to abstain from work on March 31 as part of a nationwide protest against the proposed Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
"We request all bar associations, including Calcutta High Court Bar Association, in West Bengal to join the protest against the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and abstain from work on March 31," West Bengal Bar Council Chairman Ashok Deb told newspersons here.
Terming the proposed bill as "draconian", he said, "It is against the interests of lawyers as well as litigants."
Pointing out that the bill provides for provisions such as compensation to litigants in case one loses a court case, Deb said, "It will hamper the process of independent decision making of a lawyer in the interest of his client and is also against the basic rights of a professional."

The West Bengal Bar Council held an emergency meeting of its executive members today and after discussing the proposed bill, endorsed the resolution of Bar Council of India, which requested all bar councils and bar associations in the country to abstain from work on March 31, he added.
"Provisions like that of compensation are not there in case of other professionals such as doctors and chartered accountants," state bar council executive member Ashok Bakshi told reporters after the meeting.