Parliament passes Bill on regulating legal profession

NEW DELHI: A Bill which aims at regulating the legal profession by a single Act and seeks to target “touts” was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday with Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal saying there should be no role of such persons in the country’s courts. The Bill was already cleared by the Rajya Sabha in the Monsoon session.

This is the first Bill passed by the Lower House of Parliament in the Winter session, which began on Monday.

Replying to a debate on the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Meghwal said this Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 3 and it was discussed in the Lok Sabha today.

The Bill provides that every high court and district judge can frame and publish lists of touts (those who procure clients for legal practitioner in return for any payment).

The minister also said that the Narendra Modi government has decided that colonial-era laws, which have no utility, should be repealed. So far, 1,486 such laws have been repealed and some are in process of being repealed.