MANAN KUMAR MISHRA Phone 011-4922 5000 We; a ?t ?st ?site?s BAR COUNCIL 03? mom (Statutory Body Constituted under the Advocates Act, 1961) 21, Rouse Avenue Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110 002 gclto' ?ts-22,120 g, (comm?cu.) October 3, 2016 To, Hon?ble Shri Narendra Modiji, The Prime Minister of India, New Delhi. Through Shri- ripendra Misra, Principal Secretary to The Prime Minister of India. Framing of Rules relating to regulation of foreign Lawyers and foreign Law Firms by Bar Council of India (ii) Objectionable conduct of some of bureaucrats sitting in Ministry of Law and Commerce Ministry of Union Government And To restrain such of?cers from doing anything could lead to strong reaction from the Legal fraternity. (A) My Lord! 1) We would humbly like to bring to your kind and immediate notice a very grave matter of serious and immense concern for the entire legal fraternity. Sir, if the matter at hand is not addressed, at the earliest, the entire legal fraternity throughout the country mill feel extremely aggrieved and there will be far reaching repercussions among the Legal fraternity ofthe country My Lord! 2) As per the Advocates Act, 1961, the State Bar Councils and Bar Council of India are the regulatory bodies for the legal profession. It has been granted the responsibility to Of?ce 23/8. Sager Apartments, Tilak Marg, New Delhi - 110001 Fax 2 011-4922 5011 SeniorAdvocate E-mail manankumarmishra@gmail.com CHAIRMAN Residence 171303, East End Apartments, Near New Ashok Nagar Metro Station, Mayur Vihar Ph-l Exm., Deihi - 110096 Ph.: 011-22705162 Mobile: r19431 025478. 09810474397 a MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate 2 . CHAIRMAN Continued safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates, to promote and support law reforms and to promote legal education. 3)The Bar Council of India is a body representing the entire legal community in India with it?s members having been elected to the Council by elected representatives of respective State Bar Councils. It comprises of people of caliber and form the crux of the legal brains of the country. View of Bar about the Entry of Foreign La?ers and Foreign Lawyers prior to the ears-201 -1 4) It is relevant to note that from the very beginning, the Lawyers of this country as well as the Indian Law Firms were opposing the entry of foreign Lawyers and foreign Law Firms in India. The ground of opposition was manifold and genuine. There is a strong threat to millions of Indian Lawyers and thousands of Law Firms to be adversely affected due to opening up of the door for foreigners. 5) In the year 2012-13 a move to open up the gate had been undertaken by the Congress Government and it was strongly opposed by the Lawyers throughout the country: Ultimately that Government had to go back and withdrew such move. Subsequently Bar Council of India decided to act as per the policies of our Present Government:- My Lord, 6) Todays Bar Council of India is your Institution. Under the changing circumstances, when we realized that our Government (under the most able and ef?cient leadership of our beloved Narendra Modiji) is desirous to open-up the doors for the foreign Lawyers and foreign Law ?rms, we immediate] contacted Hon?ble Mr. Arun Jaitle 'i and Hon?ble Mr.? Sadanand Gowda the then Union Law Minister). The Bar Council of India was asked/ requested by these two dignitaries to frame the Rules and Regulation to that effect taking into account the factum of Reciprocity as per the requirements of the Advocates Act. My Lord! 7) As per the suggestion of the Hon?ble the Law Minister, the Bar Council of India prepared a draft of Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Law Firms in India, 2016 as desired by Union Ministry and the draft was forwarded to the Hon?ble Law Minister for his consideration vide a letter dated 31/05/2016 bearing number MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate 3 CHAIRMAN 8) Sir, in the said letter itself it was stated by me that if the Government feels the necessity of making any changes in the draft prepared by Bar Council of India, the Ministryof Law Justice, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may suggest/propose changes, if any, to our draft and the Council shall accordingly try to insert those suggestions before ?nalizing the Rules. 9) Vide the letter dated 02.08.16 sent by Shri Y.K. Singh, Deputy Legal Advisor, Ministry of Law Justice, Department of Legal Affairs, the Bar Council of India, was sent the inputs and suggestions over this proposed draft bill by the Department of Commerce and by the Ministry of External Affairs for consideration with a request to incorporate the said views in the proposed/ draft. Bl Joint Meeting of State Bar Councils, Opposition of such move: Main Reason of opposition:- 1) However, soon the State Bar Councils and several Bar Associations raised the objections that any proposal relating to this subject matter seemed to be an extremely touchy and volatile matter for the vast majority of the legal fraternity. This news spread like wild?re. Strong opposition to this proposal poured in from all over the country. Our of?ce was ?ooded with phone calls and visitors over this issue. The same transpired in the office of the State Bar Councils throughout the country also. 2) Thus the proposal for allowance of entry of foreign law ?rm and foreign lawyers into India'was thoroughly discussed, deliberated in a joint meeting of all State Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India, on 13th August, 2016 at Chandigarh, which witnessed active and vociferous involvement and participation of all State Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India, being represented by it?s respective members. In the said meeting the entire legal fraternity of all states being represented by their respective State Bar Councils, comprising eminent member advocates of repute and expertise in the ?eld of law, vehemently opposed the stand of the Government and the Bar Council of India which had showed an inclination towards allowance of foreign lawyers and foreign law ?rms to operate in India by way of the draft rules framed by the Bar Council of India. Main Reason of withdrawal proposal by Bar Councils; Unnecessa? remarks and subsequent conduct of some Bureaucrats:- My Lord! 3) His relevant to mention it here that main reason of strong protest by State Bar Councils, Bar Council of India and other Association was some of most irresponsible and uncalled for remarks made by a few of bureaucrats sitting in the Department of Commerce and Department of Law. They had made a comment about the regulation of Indian or foreign Lawyers/?rms by the Bar Councils and by the Lawyers. There was absolutely no need nor any jurisdiction to make such unnecessary, reckless remarks by these Continued MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate 4 CHAIRMAN officers, but we don?t know why such remarks were made and it was not even objected by the of?cers sitting in the Department of Law. This is strange. My Lord! 4) It is necessary to convey to your Lordships that as per the information of Advocates of the country, a handful of bureaucrats sitting in the Department of Commerce, Department of Law and Department of Human Resource Development of Union Ministry are in the habit of making such reckless remarks to have another Regulator for the legal profession or Legal Education. These few of?cers have no other work except conSpiring so that the Legal profession of the country could be regulated by them and by some of their pet nominees. They failed during Congress regime; they had kept those Hon?ble Congress Ministers in dark, they misled them and as a result, the Government had to face the consequences. The opposition of the Advocates does not affect these officers or Babus, rather it affects the Government. These of?cers have no concern with the well being of the Government. So far the Lawyers are concerned, this much is sure that this class will never accept to be regulated either by the Judgesgformer or sitting! or by the bureaucrats. The legal fraternity cannot compromise with its independence. As a popular, ef?cient and most able leader of the largest Democracy of world, your Lordship will also never like allow such officers to think to touch the regulatory powers of Advocates by me Advocatesltheir elected representatives. We are sure about it as we kpow our Hon?ble Prime-Minister believes in democracy, therefore, we are bringing the harsh truth to the knowledge of your Lordships. C) Bar Council of India?s positive attitude/ subsequent step:- 1) I had personally met Hon?ble Arun Jaitley jee twice in this regard, I took the advise of him also, as he is a popular Leader of the Bar and has always shown his positive attitude for the Legal fraternity. It is due to this reason that we have always been contacting him on all such crucial issues. Bar Council of India, today an Institution of our Hon?ble Prime Minister: Having deep interest in Government Policies:- My Lord! 2) Bar Council of India is chaired by me for last 5 years. I am a strong supporter of your goodself. In 2013, I was the Chairman, I joined B.J.P. because I was very much impressed with your leadership, your views and your ideas. Though some of the Leaders of B.J.P. do not like me, but since I know that my Leader is the most ef?cient and able leader of the world, I don?t care for others (who are internally opposed to my ideal in my life). Here, we must express our pains and predicaments to you, you are our Continued MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate CHAIRMAN Continued guardian, our guide and Bar Council of India had accepted your goodeslf as the leader of the country long back i.e. at the time while your goodself was the Hon?ble Chief Minister of Gujarat. In the programme organized by Bar Council of India in Mahatma Mandir(Gandhinagar) on 1?it March 2014 itself, the Bar Council of India, alongwith all other Bar Councils of States had wished you to be the Prime-Minister: you were the Chief Guest of that huge mega event and seven Hon?ble Judges of Supreme Court were on the dias. 3) Therefore, ignoring such conduct of these bureaucrats, the Bar Council of India was realizing this fact that under the changed Global scenario, our doors cannot be shut down and in order to co-up with the policies of our Union Government, the Bar Council of India shall pacify and convince the State Bar Councils and the Draft Rules shall be again sent to the concerned Ministries after inclusion of the practicable suggestion of Union Ministry of Commerce and foreign Affairs. 4) Accordingly, we had planned to send the revised Draft Rules again to the Ministry of Law after taking into consideration the suggestions of the Union Commerce Ministry and Ministry of External Affairs. We had prepared the revised Drafts also. If my Lord goes through the Draft Rules of Bar Council of India, your goodself will ?nd that it has provided that without getting clearance from Ministg of Commerce and External Affairs, no foreign Lawyer or foreign Law ?rm would be r_egistered by the Bar Council of India. Shocking and unwarranted Step of bureaucrats on 29.9.2016 involving some pocket organizatiOns making attempt to usurp the functions of Bar Council of India:- My Lord! 5) The Bar Council of India surprisingly received an email dated 15.9.2016 from the Law Secretary, whereupon, it was intimated that a certain organization known as ICCA had got prepared a draft by some third party organization by the name of RASICH which they had named as Foreign Legal Practitioner?s (Regulation of Practice) Bill, 2016. The email further intimated the Bar Council of India to make it convenient to attend a meeting on this issue on 29.9.2016 along with such parties which had also made suggestions on the draft rules for registration and regulation of foreign lawyers 1n - India, 2016, prepared by Bar Council of India. We are sure that before thinking about such an irresponsible action of drafting a separate Bill, the of?cer concerned might not have spught permissions from Hon?ble Minister of Law or any other Ministry. T1118 18 a serious matter which requires serious action against such mischief. Government should not tolerate such misconducts of these officers/Babus. MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate 6 CHAIRMAN 6) This serious issue relating to entry of foreign lawyers or foreign law ?rms and their regulations is a matter of utmost importance to the future of the Indian legal fraternity. This will have a direct and crucial impact on Indian Legal profession. It cannot be deliberated upon by an inconsequential organization like ICCA which had got the so called draft, prepared by some Rasich Group. They have no locus standi on these issues and this is really very shocking. There are thousands of such pocket Associations who are Operating as the agents of some foreign Law Firms. Bar Council of India, thus is not supposed to allow any such Association to get involved with such an important issue. 7) A bare perusal of the so called draft rules presented by ICCA through Rasich, comments and remarks of the of?cers of the Ministries of Law Justice and of Commerce makes it clear that they are not interested in any regulation relating to entry of foreign lawyers and law ?rms made/drafted/regulated by an elected body of representatives of the Advocates of the Country, rather thev are more interested in re ulatin these forei law rofessionals as well as Indi Le al rofessiOn professionals themselves, which is against the interests of the lawyers of the country and which cannot be allowed to succeed at any cost. The harsh truth shall also have to be realized by the concerned Hon?ble Ministers and they will have to see through the mal- intention of a handful of bureaucrats sitting in the respective Ministries mentioned above. 8) It may befurther noted that this very matter of allowing entry of foreign lawyers and foreign law firms into India is still pending adjudication before the?I?Ion?ble Apex Court in SLP (C) No. 17150-17154/ 2012, in re Bar Council of India Vs Balaji Others. Furthermore, there is a operative stay order of the Hon?ble Apex court on this issue. 9) The attempt being made to circumvent the stay order passed in SLP No. 17150- 17154/ 2012, in re Bar council of India Vs Balaji Others and the powers therein granted to the Bar Council of India as per the Advocates Act, 1961 is- quite illegal and contemptuous. Unless the case is disposed of or the Bar Council of India withdraws this case, nothing further could be done. 10) It may be again noted that in its Draft Rules Regulations, the Bar Council of India had itself involved all the concerned Ministries but it has not satis?ed the bureaucrats and it is apparent from a bare perusal of the comments and remarks that a few bureaucrats (sitting in some Ministries) are ?trying to make useless efforts to encroach upon the powers and functions statutorily granted to the State Bar Councils and Bar Counc11 of India and are creating unnecessary confusions which may lead to strong protest by the Lawyers class. 11) The Indian legal fraternity cannot allow any move which brings about widespread chaos and which has been opposed so vehemently by them in the past. Continued MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate CHAIRMAN Continued 12) Under these circumstances, the Bar Council of India thought it proper to bring this fact to the notice of our Hon?ble Prime Minister, I?Ion?be Union Finance Minster Hon?ble Foreign Affairs Minister and Hon?ble Union Minister of Law Justice, and Hon?ble Union Minister for Commerce. The Council is sure that the true factual position has not been brought to the knowledge of the Hon?ble Prime Minister or to any other We also apprehend that the bureaucracy involved may try to mislead the Hon?ble Prime Minister and other Ministers on this issue and for this purpose, the delegation of Bar Council of India is desirous to meet your Lordships. 13) It would not be out of place to mention here again that similar attempts had been made by the U.P.A. Government in the year 2012-13 which was also at the instance of the bureaucracy. The same was strongly opposed by lawyers throughout the country, which resulted in complete paralysis of work of the courts. Lamers came on roads to protest against such a move legal fraternity withdrew it?s plans. Therefore, the Council requests that this fact may be immediately brought to the notice of the Hon?ble Prime Minister and other Hon?ble Ministers because it is a very serious issue which requires the immediate attention of our Hon?ble Prime Minister. 1. A 9 member delegation of Bar Council of India and other State Bar Councils seeks appointment with the Hon?ble Prime Minister of India and Hon?ble Union Minister for Finance in order to discuss this issue. We would herewith again like to reiterate that we are more than willing and always open to any-"suggestion or inputs being provided to us by the Government including the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in respect of rules and regulations framed by BCI. By way of this submission too, we would like to again submit that any suggestions, recommendations regarding any rules, regulations which may be framed by us in future, to be provided by concerned ministries, like the Ministry of Law Justice, Ministry of External Affair, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce etc are more than welcome and shall receive our primary consideration. Thus the Bar Council of India would kindly request the Hon?ble Prime Minister to give an appointment to a 9 member delegation to meet and to explain the things. If need be, Hon?ble Prime Minister may take other concerned Hon?ble Minister in that meeting. And MANAN KUMAR MISHRA SeniorAdvocate 8 CHAIRMAN Continued 2. We further pray that in the meantime the Hon?ble Minister of Law and Justice and Hon?ble Union Minister for Commerce may be directed and requested by your goodself to restrain their Secretariat from doing anything in future which could lead to any conflict with Bar Council of India and the Legal fraternity of the country; 3. And if our Hon?ble Prime Minister thinks it proper- the Regulation for the foreign Lawyers and foreign Law Firms? drafted by Bar Council of India, if requires any change(as suggested by these two ministries earlier(which was forwarded to Bar Council of India by Department of Law vide its letter dated 2.8.2016) may again be sent to bar Council of India for giving it a ?nal shape. We will be happy to do it at the earliest. Obliged! wig Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman Copy to:- 1. Hon?ble the Union Minister for Finance 2. Hon?ble the Union Minister for Law Justice 3. Hon?ble the Union Minister for Commerce.