Ahmadi, C.J.I - (1.) -The Bar Council of India by Resolution No.64/93 dated 2nd August, 1993 added R.9 in Chapter III of Part VI of the Bar Council of India Rules which resolution was Gazetted on 25th September, 1993. The said newly added rule reads as under:"A person who has completed the age of 45 years on the date on which he submits his application for his enrolment as an advocate to the State Bar Council shall not be enrolled as an advocate." All the State Bar Councils in the country were duly informed about the insertion of the said rule. The legality and validity of the said rule is questioned in this batch of petitions as inconsistent with Arts. 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and S. 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961, hereinafter called 'the Act.'
(2.) The Act came into force with effect from 19th May, 1961. The dictionary of the Act is to be found in S.2, C1.(a) whereof defines an Advocate as a person entered in any roll under the provisions of the Act as such and the term 'roll' according to C1.(k) means a roll of advocates prepared and maintained under the Act. S.3 provides that there shall be a Bar Council for each of the States to be known as the Bar Council of that State. S.4 next provides for a Bar Council for the territories to which the Act extends to be known as the Bar Council of India. The functions of the State Bar Council and the Bar Council of India have been set out in Ss.6 and 7, respectively. The functions of the State Bar Council include admission of persons as advocates on its roll, preparation and maintenance of such roll, safeguarding the rights, privileges and interests of advocates on its roll and to do all things necessary for discharging the above functions. The functions of the Bar Council of India include the laying down of standards of professional conduct and etiquette for advocates and for safeguarding their rights, privileges and interests. Chapter III which deals with 'Admission and Enrolment of Advocates' comprises of Ss.16 to 28. S. 16 provides that there shall be two classes of advocates, senior advocates and other advocates; S.17 sets out how every State Bar Council shall prepare and maintain a roll of advocates; S.18 deals with the transfer of name of an advocate from one State roll to another; S.19 enjoins upon every State Bar Council to send a copy of the roll of advocates to the Bar Council of India; S.20 makes special provision for enrolment of every advocate who was entitled to practice in the Supreme Court immediately before the appointed day in the roll of a State Bar Council; S.21 relates to the fixation of seniority; S.22 provides for issuance of certificate of enrolment and S. 23 confers the right of pre-audience on the Attorney General of India, the Solicitor General of India, the Additional Solicitor General of India, etc. S.24 to the extent it is relevant for our purpose provides as under: "24. Persons who may be admitted as advocates on a State roll-(1) 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 fulfills the following conditions, namely:- (a) he is a citizen of India; (b) he has completed the age of twenty-one years; and (c) he has obtained a degree in law." Section 24A provides that no person shall be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, for the period indicated in the proviso, if he is convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, or if he is convicted of an offence under the provisions of Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1995 or if he is dismissed or removed from employment or office under the State on any charge involving moral turpitude; S. 25 indicates the authority to whom applications for enrolment may be made; S. 26 provides for the disposal of such applications; S. 26A confers powers on the State Bar Council to remove any name from its roll; S. 27 provides that where State Bar Council has refused the application of any person for admission as an advocate, no other State Bar Council shall entertain his / her application for admission on its roll except with the previous consent of the former and of the Bar Council of India and S. 28 confers power on a State Bar Council to make rules to carry out the purposes of the Chapter which may in particular, inter alia, provide for the conditions subject to which a person may be admitted as an advocate on its roll. Chapter IV deals with the 'Right to Practice.' S.29 says that subject to the provisions of the Act and any rule made thereunder there shall, as from the appointed day, be only one class of persons entitled to practice the profession of law, namely, advocates. According to S. 30 every advocate whose name is entered in the State roll shall be entitled as of right to practice throughout the territories to which the Act extends in all Courts including the Supreme Court of India, before any Tribunal or person legally authorised to take evidence and before any authority or person before whom such advocate is, by or under any law for the time being in force, entitled to practice. S.33 further provides that no person shall, on or after the appointed day, be entitled to practice in any Court or before any authority or person unless he is enrolled as an advocate under the Act. Chapter V deals with 'Conduct of Advocates.' Under S.35 where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise a State Bar Council has reason to believe that any advocate on its roll has been guilty of professional or other misconduct it shall refer the case for disposal to its Disciplinary Committee. S.37 provides for an appeal to the Bar Council of India against an order made by the Disciplinary Committee of a State Bar Council S.36 provides that where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise, the Bar Council of India has reason to believe that any advocate whose name is not entered on any State roll has been guilty of professional or other misconduct, it shall refer the case to the Disciplinary Committee. Any person aggrieved by an order made by the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India under S.36 or 37 may prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court of India under S.38 of the Act. The powers of the Disciplinary Committee have been enumerated in S. 42. Chapter VI deals with 'Miscellaneous' matters. We are concerned with S.49 which empowers the Bar Council of India to make rules for discharging its functions under the Act., C1s.(ag) and (ah) of sub-sec.(1) of S.49, inter alia, empower the Bar Council of India to make rules (i) prescribing the class or category of persons entitled to be enrolled as advocates, and (ii) laying down the conditions subject to which an advocate shall have the right to practice and the circumstance under which a person shall be deemed to pratice as an advocate in a Court. These, in brief, are the relevant provisions of the Act which have a bearing on the question of legality and validity of the newly added R.9 in Chapter III of Part VI of the Rules.
(3.) It will be seen from the above provisions that unless a person is enrolled as an advocate by a State Bar Council, he shall have no right to practice in a Court of law or before any other Tribunal or authority. Once a person fulfils the requirements of S. 24 for enrolment, he becomes entitled to be enrolled as an advocate and on such enrolment he acquires a right to practice as stated above. Having thus acquired a right to practice he incurs certain obligations in regard to his conduct as a member of the noble profession. The Bar Councils are enjoined with the duty to act as sentinels of professional conduct and must ensure that the dignity and purity of the profession are in no way undermined. Its job is to uphold the standards of professional conduct and etiquette. Thus every State Bar Council and the Bar Council of India has a public duty to perform, namely, to ensure that the monopoly of practice granted under the Act is not misused or abused by a person who is enrolled as an advocate. The Bar Councils have been created at the State level as well as the Central level not only to protect the rights, interests and privileges of its members but also to protect the litigating public by ensuring that high and noble traditions are maintained so that the purity and dignity of the profession are not jeopardised. It is generally believed that members of the legal profession have certain social obligations, e.g., to render 'pro bono publico' service to the poor and the under-privileged. Since the duty of a lawyer is to assist the Court in the administration of justice, the practice of law has a public utility flavour and, therefore, he must strictly and scrupulously abide by the Code of Conduct behoving the noble profession and must not indulge in any activity which may tend to lower the image of the profession in society. That is why the functions of the Bar Council include the laying down of standards of professional conduct and etiquette which advocates must follow to maintain the dignity and purity of the profession.;