STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: In Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking constitution of State Bar Council under Advocates Act, 1961, a Division Bench (DB) of J&K State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Tashi Rabstan on Monday allowed the application, seeking impleadment of Bar Council of India (BCI) as party respondent and issued notice to BCI returnable within six weeks.
Advocate S. C Mansotra, appearing for the PIL, submitted that all the States have their State Bar Councils headed by the elected body of Advocates of their respective States. However, in J&K, the State High Court is exercising the powers of State Bar Council under Section 58 of the Advocates Act, 1961 with effect from 31st January, 1974.
It was further submitted in the PIL that the Advocates have been deprived of their legal and statutory rights due to non-constitution of State Bar Council, which enables the Advocates to have representation in BCI.
