Lawyers Strike: Law Ministry & Bar Council Reach ‘Deal’ to End Stir

Bar Council of India Holds ‘Intense Negotiations’ with Law & Justice Ministry

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, February 20: The Bar Council of India and the Ministry of Law and Justice have come to an understanding to pave way to end the ongoing lawyers’ strike. The Ministry of Law and Justice agreed to “reconsider certain provision of the Draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025”.

“The representatives of the Bar Council of India met Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Meghwal on Thursday. Senior officials of the Ministry took part in discussions. The deliberations went on for more than four hours,” said a highly placed source.

The Bar Council of India representatives have assured that the strike of lawyers will shortly be called off, sources said. “The Ministry has given an assurance that the government will drop a key provision which was flagged the top demand by the Bar Council of India. The Ministry will also examine other suggestions of the lawyers’ body,” sources said.

A source said that the “Bar Council of India by not giving approval to foreign lawyers is creating impediments in signing of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries and group of nations”.

Niti Aayog lists 3 legs of ‘demography, democracy, diversity’ for ‘Viksit Bharat’

They stated that the lawyers’ body had been agitating because of the provision that the “Government of India will nominate three members in the Bar Council of India”. “The Ministry has agreed to withdraw the provision of directly nominating the members in the Bar Council of India,” sources said.

The Bar Council of India mellowed down after the Ministry gave an assurance that the government will “drop an amendment which mandated the government to allow the foreign lawyers to practice in India”, said sources. “The lawyers’ body claimed that there are 27 lakh lawyers in India who will suffer very adversely if the foreign lawyers are allowed to practice in India,” sources said.

The Bar Council of India currently regulates the profession of the lawyers. The Bar Council of India shot off an angry letter to Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, alleging attempts to “demolish autonomy” of the advocates’ body. The letter, sent on Wednesday, claimed that the “officials of the Ministry unilaterally changed the draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill”.

Lawyers in Delhi have gone on strike against the proposed amendments in the bill. The lawyers are protesting proposal in the bill to “ban strikes in courts”.

“After thorough examination and deliberations on the Draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025, we have found that there are several provisions, if enacted in the current form, will have serious implications for the legal profession and undermine the autonomy and integrity of the Bar Council of India,” stated the letter.

Join the WhatsApp Channel of The Raisina Hills

Follow on Google News https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMNK2vwsw39HWAw?hl=en-IN&gl=IN&ceid=IN%3Aen

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save

About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

See author's posts