BCI Appoints A Seven Member Committee To Draft An Advocate’s Protection Act To Ensure That Lawyers Are Protected From Threats And Attacks

What Gave Rise To The Initiative

• Following reports of attacks on lawyers in various parts of the country, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has formed a seven-member committee to prepare an Advocates' Protection Bill.
• According to a letter dated June 12, the Bill's goal is to provide proper protection to members of the legal profession so that they can carry out their duties as officers of the court without fear of harm to themselves or their families.
• The decision to form a committee to create such a law was made in a meeting on June 10th, when the BCI General Council issued a resolution in support of it. The resolution was enacted in light of the fact that "advocates have been targeted more frequently recently."
• "We were only lately witnesses to a horrible and barbaric crime of daylight murder of Advocate Couple (Gattu Vaman Rao and his wife P. V. Nagamani) in Telengana," the BCI said.

Who Are The Members Of The Drafting Committee

• Senior Advocate S Prabakaran, Vice-Chairman, Bar Council of India;
• Senior Advocate Debi Prasad Dhal, Executive Chairman, Bar Council of India Trust;
• Advocate Suresh Chandra Shrimali, Co-Chairman, Bar Council of India;
• Advocate Shailendra Dubey, Member, Bar Council of India;
• Advocate A Rami Reddy, Executive Vice-Chairman, Bar Council of India Trust;
• Advocate Shreenath Tripathi, Member, Bar Council of India; and
• Advocate Prashant Kumar Singh, Member, Bar Council of India.

What Cases Were Highlighted

• The attack on an advocate, Ram Sharma, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, was also highlighted, with the lawyer and his wife allegedly suffering significant injuries at the hands of criminals.
• A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by a Karnataka-based lawyer against a police station death in custody and other instances against ruling party figures in Telangana was also noted.

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