NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Thursday sought the Centre's reply on a PIL seeking inclusion of lawyers in the definition of professionals so that they can access the various schemes under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Act, 2006.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Centre and asked it to file its reply while listing the matter for further hearing on October 12.
Petitioner Abhijit Mishra contended that MSME Ministry does not consider advocates as eligible professionals for the various schemes under the Act.
The court had last year dismissed a similar petition filed by him saying it was not inclined to entertain it and that as and when a lawyer moves the court with such a prayer, it will look into it.
On Thursday, Mishra said while he was a law student presently, the other petitioner Payal Bahl was a practicing advocate.
The plea said that under the MSME Act the eligibility criteria of having a Goods and Service Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), business PAN or Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) as mandatory requirement to access the development schemes is against the welfare of the advocates.
The petition claimed that by virtue of the services provided by lawyers to their clients, they can be considered under the definition of enterprise as given in the MSME Act.