SC to say if MPs, MLAs can practise as advocates

The Supreme Court will on Tuesday pronounce its judgement on a plea that seeks to ban lawmakers from practising as advocates.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud will deliver the verdict on a PIL filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

In his plea, he claimed the parliamentarians and legislators, practising as lawyers, posed a "conflict of interest" and violated the provisions of the Advocates Act and the Bar Council of India Rules.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, however, sought dismissal of the PIL.

The petitioner contended that while a public servant cannot practice as an advocate, legislators are practising in various courts which was a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, among others.

Congress MPs like Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Abhishek M Singhvi, Meenakshi Lekhi of the BJP, and Kalyan Banerjee of the TMC continued to practice as advocates even after becoming parliamentarians.

"Such legislators take a fee from litigants and salary from the public exchequer, which is professional misconduct," the plea said.

The petitioner also said the issue was a matter of concern for both the judiciary and the legislature as most of the lawmaker-advocates are involved in an active practice of law, despite receiving salaries and other perquisites drawn on the public exchequer.