CUTTACK: The controversy over amendment to the Bar Council of India (BCI) Rules has reached the Orissa High Court with a petition seeking declaration that the new rules of conduct notified by the council are unconstitutional and violative of the right to freedom of speech.BCI had modified the new rules considering the increase in criticism of judiciary and discussions on the conduct of judges especially in the social media.
BCI had published the notification in the official gazette on June 25 with amendment to the BCI Rules. A section titled ‘duties towards society and bar’ was added as part of the amendment. The controversy was triggered as the new rules sought to prevent lawyers from publicly criticising judges and bar councils. In fact, multiple petitions challenging the amendment have been already filed in various high courts and the Supreme Court.
Two Puri-based lawyers and members of the State Bar Council Krishna Chandra Tripathy and Gopal Krishna Panda filed the petition on Wednesday. The petition filed through advocate Akshaya Kumar Pandey sought the court’s intervention against the new rules on the ground that they impose restrictions on lawyers, preventing criticism of the judiciary or bar councils in the public forum.
The petition challenged the new rules, terming them to be violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression and right to personal liberty. The BCI’s notification is against the spirit of natural justice as due opinion from the affected community was not invited before issuing it, the petition contends.