New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by an overseas citizen of India (OCI) seeking to be treated at par with NRIs for the purpose of practising law and obtaining state bar council membership, saying it does not have time for “luxury litigation”.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ruled that OCI status, while providing certain privileges, does not equate to Indian citizenship which remains a mandatory prerequisite for enrolment under Section 24 of the Advocates Act.
“We do not have time for luxury litigation,” the CJI said while refusing to entertain a plea filed by OCI cardholder Chelabhai Karsanbhai Patel.
Patel approached the top court seeking eligibility to become a member of a state bar council.
His counsel argued that notifications issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2009 and 2021 effectively placed OCIs on equal footing with NRIs.
“The MHA notification of 2009, supplemented by the 2021 notification, puts me at par with an NRI. An NRI is very much a citizen of India,” the lawyer said and urged the bench to interpret the language of the notification expansively.
The bench, however, was not inclined to accept this interpretation.
Justice Bagchi clarified that the parity mentioned in MHA notifications is restricted to specific “permissive areas” and does not extend to the fundamental status of citizenship required for legal practice.
“These notifications have to be read in context,” Justice Bagchi observed.
“There is a three-layered situation. You have a higher standing than a foreign national with an LLB degree, but none of this makes you an Indian citizen or an NRI, thereby entitling you to be a member of the Bar Council of India,” the judge said.
When the petitioner’s counsel argued that Section 7B(2) of the Citizenship Act does not explicitly exclude the right to practise law, the bench maintained that eligibility is a matter of strict legal provision rather than the absence of a “negative covenant”.
The bench said that enrolment as an advocate is governed by Section 24 of the Advocates Act, which mandates Indian citizenship and subject to specific reciprocity exceptions for foreign nationals.
Section 24 deals with the persons who may be admitted as advocates on a state roll.
“Subject to the provisions of this Act, and the rules made thereunder, a person shall be qualified to be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if he fulfils the following conditions, namely: he is a citizen of India: Provided that subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, a national of any other country may be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if citizens of India, duly qualified, are permitted to practise law in that other country,” the provision reads. PTI SJK MNR SJK KVK KVK
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