UK law firms may be allowed to operate in India: CJI

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has said that UK law firms could be allowed to operate in India but a final decision in the matter would have to be taken by the Indian Bar Council. "I don't think Indian Bar Council can continue to resist (the proposal to allow foreign law firms to operate in India)," the Chief Justice of India said here on Friday evening while delivering a keynote address on 'Judicial Reforms in India' organised by the Indo-EU Business Forum' at the Court House hotel, in the heart of the city. Asked if UK law firms can be allowed to do transactional work with the objective of facilitating foreign investment in India and to advise the foreign investors, Justice Balakrishnan said, "It should be decided by the Bar Council of India. I am sure it will come soon. Discussion between the Bar Council of India and its British counterpart has started. It may happen shortly and it will be helpful." India's High Commissioner to the UK Shiv Shankar Mukherjee who spoke on the occasion, referred to the opening of legal system in India, saying, "Of course it is going to happen." He said he was present during a meeting between Indian Law Minister, H R Bharadwaj and Britain's Secretary for Justice, Jack Straw, when the issue had figured prominently. "I cannot give you a time frame but this is being handled at the senior level and it will be done." Justice Balakrishnan also dwelt at length on the large number of cases pending in Indian courts and steps taken to deal with the issue.

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