On the first day of Winter Session, Parliament passed the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 with Lok Sabha giving assent to it . The Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill already in August this year during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The bill, which seeks to amend the Advocates Act, 1961, has made the act of ‘Tout’ punishable and repealed certain provisions of the Legal Practitione
The Bill amends the Advocates Act, 1961. The legislation repeals certain sections related to touts under the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879. It provides that every High Court, district judge, sessions judge, district magistrate, and revenue officer not below the rank of a district collector, can frame and publish lists of touts.
Tout refers to a person who either proposes to procure or procures the employment of a legal practitioner in a legal business in return for any payment.
Under the legislation, the Court or judge may exclude from the premises of the Court any person whose name is included in the list of touts.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal said, the colonial Act was without any utility and that’s why it has been repealed. The Minister said, one thousand 486 such laws have been done away with.
Initiating the discussion, Karti Chidambaram of Congress welcomed the bill. Participating in the discussion, Kalyan Banerjee of TMC raised the large number of pending cases in courts. Supriya Sule of NCP, Malook Nagar of BSP and Jagdambika Pal of BJP were among others who participated in the debate.
Earlier moving the Bill, Minister Meghwal said that the legislation aims to clear the premises of courts from touts.
The Bill aims to regulate the legal profession solely through the Advocates Act of 1961, abolishing the Legal Practitioners Act of 1879.