Two days after thousands of advocates from across the State thronged the State capital and rallied against the newly introduced amendments to the statutory rules of the Madras High Court, the Chairman of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, D. Selvam, on Wednesday said that the Chief Justice had assured the council that no action would be taken against any advocates under the new rules till an amicable solution is arrived at.
“We met Chief Justice S.K. Kaul on Tuesday to discuss the apprehension prevailing among advocates regarding the amendments empowering judges to debar erring lawyers. He advised the council to invite suggestions/ objections from all the lawyers’ associations throughout the State and submit them to the committee. The Chief Justice has also promised that no action would be taken under the new rules until an amicable solution is arrived at. He also promised that the amendments would be reconsidered based on the suggestions,” Mr. Selvam said during a brief press meet in the Bar Council building.
Suggestions invited
Mr. Selvam added that the Bar Council has sent notice to advocates associations in the subordinate courts inviting suggestions/ oppositions on the rules.
The last date to receive them would be June 17.
Meanwhile, R.C. Paul Kanakaraj, president of the Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA), who addressed the media after an emergency executive committee meeting of the association, said, “We have constituted a State-level committee which will meet in Tiruchi on June 11 to draft a memorandum of suggestions to the amendments, which will be presented to the Chief Justice for his consideration.”
Boycott ruled out
He further made it clear that the Tiruchi meeting was only to draft the memorandum and the association had no plans to boycott courts or organise further protests.