December 4, 2023
Aparupa Poddar’s speech on The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023
Thank you Sir for giving me an opportunity to speak on this Bill. This Bill has been listed for business so many times, yet it never came up for discussion. इि िरकार मेंसिफट तारीख पर तारीख आती गई, लेसकन कोईबात नहीं, देर आए दरुुस्त आए। The Government has brought this Bill with a very noble objective, but it is a decade late. The 249th Law Commission Report that made the recommendation of repealing the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 was laid in October, 2014. Hence, it took this Government 10 years to adopt these recommendations. This Bill should have been brought much earlier. Even when the Government has adopted the recommendations, they have done it in a half-hearted manner. Though the learned Advocate and my senior Member, Kalyan da has already spoken from my Party, I would like to make some suggestions. Firstly, the Government should have at least come out with some sort of awareness campaign about the practice of tout and it being illegal. Unfortunately, a common man who has a legal case to fight may not be able to identify a tout altogether and end-up paying hefty fees to him. क्योंसक उिको यह लगता हैसक अगर इिके पाि जाएगं ेतो र्ायद मझुेजल्द िेजल्द इंिाफ समल जाएगा। इि चीज पर एक क्लेररर्ी होनी चासहए। Secondly, the Government usually advocates to go digital. यह गवनटमेंर् हमेर्ा कहती है– सडसजर्ल इंसडया, िब कुछ सडसजर्ल है। But what happened in this scenario? Why could the Government not make a single database where all courts could upload their tout lists? कोर््टि मेंर्ाउर् सलस्र् को अपलोड कर देना चासहए था। This would have helped to mitigate this practice at a larger level and would limit this practice at scale. Thirdly, I beg this Government to make the judicial system more accessible and more inclusive. I am sure that the entire House would like to see a more robust and equitable justice system. The legal fees taken throughout the country is unregulated. On the one hand, there are a few lawyers who charge a very high amount of fees up to Rs. 50 lakh for a hearing whereas, on the other hand, the Members of the Legal Aid Cell are paid a marginal fees. In fact, the per capita spending by the Government on legal aid is one of the lowest in the world at just 75 paise. This is extremely concerning, and I would urge the Government to make the system more equitable for all of us. As policy-makers, it is our responsibility to ensure that all the ‘wheels of justice’ turn smoothly and fairly. Thank you, Sir
