Jammu Bar rejects Indian govt’s proposed Advocates Amendment Bill, plans protest
Jammu: The lawyers in the Jammu chapter of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association have rejected the Indian government’s proposed draft of the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, announcing plans to protest against the move.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the advisory committee of the association meeting was convened to discuss the proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961, wherein the majority of the members opposed the draft amendments as unconstitutional, undemocratic, authoritative and dictatorial.
The meeting chaired by bar president K Nirmal Kotwal held that the amendments would undermine the independence of advocates with a tendency to dilute the institution. “It has been unanimously decided that the IIOJK High Court Bar Association, Jammu, will hold a protest against the proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961, to show solidarity with the Bar Council of India and other bar associations at the district court complex in Jammu,” Kotwal said.
The lawyers have voiced concerns that the draft bill, proposed by India’s Law Ministry, threatens the autonomy and independence of the legal profession. One of the most contentious provisions prohibits advocates from boycotting or abstaining from court work, which they argue could severely restrict their ability to exercise their professional rights. The Indian government plans to amend the Advocates Act by making sweeping changes in the definitions of what a legal practitioner and a law graduate mean.
