CHENNAI: THE Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) has moved the Madras High Court challenging the order of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, suspending as many as 5,970 advocates from practice, on the ground that they did not pay the subscription fees under the Advocates Welfare Fund.
The Association, represented by its president G Mohanakrishnan and secretary R Krishnakumar, made a mention to this effect before the first bench headed by Chief Justice VK Tahilramani on Monday morning and the CJ permitted them to file the petition, which will be heard by the portfolio judge Justice N Kirubakaran, now stationed at Madurai Bench, through video-conferencing.
The petitioner association sought to declare Rule 42 of the Bar Council of India Rules (Chapter-II) and the suspension notice dated March 22 last, as invalid and illegal.
The petitioner contended that the membership to the Advocates Welfare Fund is voluntary and non-payment of the fee or subscription would entail only loss of the benefits under the scheme. Suspending from practice is unethical to the nature of the scheme. Moreover, no prior notice was issued to the defaulting advocates, the association contended.