Read Time: 06 minutes

Synopsis

The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana recently released a press note demanding the respective state governments to enact, at the earliest, the Punjab Advocates (Protection) Bill 2023 and Haryana Advocates (Protection) Bill 2023.

Through the press note issued on April 4, 2023, the Bar Council also warned that if adequate steps are not taken by the governments, all advocates from Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh will hold a mahapanchayat and start a peaceful state-wide agitation.

The Bar Council has prepared the draft legislations which, it said, will be sent to respective state governments through proper channels. 

The press note states, "There have been genuine concerns, with countless examples, highlighting how acts of violence aimed at advocates dwindles the access to legitimate representation and fundamentally compromises the rule of law".

Now more than ever, it has become imperative to prohibit acts against, penalise such acts and protect advocates while discharging their duties by enacting effective legislation making such offences cognizable in the territories of the states of Punjab and Haryana, the press note reads. 

The council has stated that from broad daylight incidents of murder, violent attacks, grievous hurts, kidnapping, intimidation, etc in different parts of the states of Punjab and Haryana as well as in the parking of the high court and false implication by disgruntled/opposite parties to the opprobrium of breach of the client-lawyer privilege, there have been many such incidents which have been reported to the State Bar Council by Bar Associations, individual lawyers or their families. 

"The year 2023 alone, as reported so far, has sadly witnessed two broad-daylight murders of Adv Umesh Pal in Uttar Pradesh and the recent of Adv Virender Narwal in Delhi. The trend is clear: lawyers are under attack because of their work, and they need better legal protections to sustain the viability of justice delivery systems," the press note claims. 

The press note further states that in 2016, the then-United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers presented a Report to the UN that advocated protection for lawyers and gave clear recommendations in this regard.

The last 2022 Report stated that in the decade from 2010 to 2020, more than 2,500 lawyers were killed, detained or kidnapped around the world. Since 2010, every year, the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer has been observed worldwide with the purpose to create awareness about the threat to the safety of lawyers," the note reads. 

Therefore, while stating that it is the obligation of the state to respect, protect, fulfil and promote the independence security of lawyers, as well as their ability to perform their professional duties free from intimidation, hindrance, harassment, improper interference or reprisals from state and anti-social actors, the Bar Council has asked the concerned state governments to expedite the passing of the two bills. 

"We sincerely hope that the state governments of Punjab and Haryana shall duly consider our genuine request for the enactment of the Advocates (Protection) Act, 2023 at the earliest," the press release states.