New Delhi: The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) Wednesday put on hold a letter through which it had debarred over 4,500 lawyers from practicing, acknowledging that the list had “some discrepancies”.
The BCD had surprised everybody on 26 August when it sent out a single letter debarring 4,778 lawyers on the grounds that they had not passed the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) on time.
But springing into action after almost 15 days of issuing the letter, the BCD has now sent another letter to various court authorities in the national capital, admitting that the list had “some discrepancies”. It has requested the authorities to not act upon the letter until further communication.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) has also stepped in and blamed “human error” after several lawyers were left aghast at the way the entire exercise was undertaken and implemented.
“It was a bit of a typographical error and a bit of human error. They are now revising the list and will republish it,” BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told ThePrint. “This is not that big a deal, it can happen in any system.”
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The debarment
In the 26 August letter, the BCD had claimed that since 2010, the 4,778 provisionally enrolled advocates had failed to qualify the bar exam.
It then requested authorities at the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court to ensure that these advocates are not allowed to practice before the courts or vote in any bar election. The list was also sent to all tribunals and district and sessions judges in the national capital.
Law graduates can provisionally enroll themselves with their respective state bar councils before appearing for the AIBE. This provisional enrollment is valid for a period of two years, within which they are required to clear the exam; the exams are held twice every year — in March and December. Lawyers who do not pass the AIBE within this time lose their right to practice.
Those who pass the exam are required to present their certificates of practice to the state bar council, after which they need to return their provisional certificates and are issued licences to practice.
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Who made the list?
The BCD letter claimed that the 4,778 lawyers were being debarred on the basis of “records received” from the BCI, which is responsible for conducting the AIBE.
This led to confusion among advocates regarding the source of the list.
BCD chairman K.C. Mittal told ThePrint that the list was prepared by the Delhi body on the basis of available BCI records and certificates of practice.
“We are revisiting the list and have put it on hold,” he said. “The exam is conducted by BCI and they issue a certificate of practice. Unless we have that certificate, we don’t know if anybody has passed the exam or not… We tried to tally the records and the certificate issued by them.”
The BCD has now circulated a message to the barred lawyers urging them to send their certificates of practice and enrollment certificates to three WhatsApp numbers.
While this message did not specify any deadline for approaching the BCD with correction requests, Mittal told ThePrint that lawyers in the list should either provide their certificates of enrollment within a week or “face the consequences”. According to him, so far around 50 lawyers have sent messages requesting that their names be removed from the list.
As of now, messages sent to the three numbers are being responded to with an automated reply: “Done. Sorry for the inconvenience. Your name has been removed from that list.”
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The affected lawyers say that the list was “stigmatic and highly discriminatory”.
An advocate-on-record, whose names features in the list, called the process “incorrect and shrouded in opacity”.
“For starters, the BCD needs to explain the basis on which such a list was prepared or if it was indeed received from the BCI,” he said. “It should also explain if it was verified by the BCD prior to its publication and issuance to the various authorities to whom the letter dated 26.08.2019 is addressed or copied.”
Asserting that the list should have been verified before calling for debarment, he said, “For a body meant to uphold the rights of enrolled advocates and to ensure that advocates adhere to the highest standards of professionalism and morality, these actions of the BCD do a great disservice to these ideals.”
Another lawyer, who is now a partner at a prominent law firm, highlighted the impact of the list on his peers. “This has caused a great amount of anxiety for practicing counsel. It also includes those who had duly followed the entire verification process.”
He, however, added that he was “happy to know that they (BCD) are being proactive in regularising”. “They have been sending us messages,” he said.
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With restrictions on movement of lawyers justice is being denied to millions of litigants who are law abiding and following govts dictates on wearing masks and social distancing. Courts should be opened forthwith.