Lekha G
In an event held by Society of Indian Law Firms to memorialize 60 years of the passage of the Advocates’ Act Senior Advocate Fali S Nariman expressed strong disagreement against the existing method of appointing lawyers as Senior Advocates terming it as a form of caste system among lawyers.
He also said that Section 16(2) of the Advocates’ Act, 1961 is violative of Article 14 of the constitution and should therefore be deleted.
In his speech Nariman said “ It was a good Act when it was enacted, except that it introduced for the first time in India a caste system among practicing lawyers. It recognized, for the first time, two distinct and separate classes of lawyers-senior advocates and other advocates. This was mirrored on the practice in England and Wales, and it is still current there”.
He added that there have been instances of ineligible lawyers being designated as Senior Advocate which created “far too much heart burn and legitimate disappointment, especially among a large number of enthusiastic, practicing lawyers”.
Regarding Section 16(2) of the Advocate’ Act 1961, Nariman emphasized that it “must be revoked so as to provide that seniority in the legal profession should be assessed objectively simply by the number of years of practice at the bar, not by the personal choice or opinion of the majority of judges”.
It was also noted that the voluntary system adopted by Bombay Bar reversed by the 1961 Act was far better than the prescription in the Act as it ensured equality of opportunity amongst those practicing law with a distinct weightage in favour of the junior bar.
Another concern bought about by Nariman was revision of the language used in Section 16 of the Act. “This provision, I submit is not innocent no longer…I submit that, 60 years after the enactment of the Advocates Act, it is fitting that we insist that not only gender-neutral language be used in speech but it must now be used in statutes as well,” said Nariman.