Jammu lawyers to hold protest over proposed advocates Bill

Opposing the draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, the Jammu chapter of the J-K High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA) on Friday said it will stage a protest against the Central government's proposed move on Saturday.

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The decision was taken at an urgent meeting of the advisory committee of the association at its office here, a spokesman for the lawyers' outfit said.

He said the meeting was convened to discuss the proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961, wherein the majority of the members opposed the draft amendments, terming them “unconstitutional, undemocratic, authoritative and dictatorial”.

The meeting chaired by bar president K Nirmal Kotwal held that the amendments would undermine the independence of advocates with a tendency to dilute the institution. "It has been unanimously decided that the J-K High Court Bar Association, Jammu, will hold a protest against the proposed amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961, to show solidarity with the Bar Council of India and other bar associations at the district court complex in Jammu on Saturday," Kotwal said.

The government plans to amend the Advocates Act, 1961, by making sweeping changes in the definitions of what a legal practitioner and a law graduate mean.

According to the draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025, a law graduate means a person who has obtained a bachelor's degree in law of three or five years or such other duration as prescribed, by any centre of legal education or university established by law or a college affiliated to any university and recognised by the Bar Council of India.