SC urges raising cap on State Bar Councils
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to consider a plea seeking an increase in the statutory strength of State Bar Councils, currently capped at 25 members under the Advocates Act.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed the order while hearing a petition filed by advocate Rohit Pandey, who has challenged the adequacy of the existing strength of State Bar Councils in view of the substantial growth in the number of advocates over the decades.
The plea said that the 25-member limit was prescribed when the Advocates Act was enacted in 1961. Now, the electorate of several State Bar Councils has increased manifold since then, it said.
The counsel for Pandey cited the Bar Council of Delhi, which, according to the plea, has around two lakh registered advocates, and argued that such a large electorate requires adequate and proportionate representation in its elected body.
