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BCI chairman MK Mishra tells LI to be more positive: ‘Sea change’ in foreign lawyer policy, ‘nobody can prove any BCI corruption’

Manan Kumar Mishra: "BCI has done many good, drastic steps"
Manan Kumar Mishra: "BCI has done many good, drastic steps"

Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has sent an unsolicited email to Legally India’s editor Kian Ganz earlier today, after having sent a legal notice on 21 May 2015 claiming defamation by Legally India, copying in more than 147 other recipients.

Read full legal notice here.

On 31/05/2015 00:20, Manan Mishra wrote:

Dear Mr Kian,

In last few years BCI has done many good,drastic steps . There has been sea  change in our policy with regard to entry of foreign lawyers & law firms.A delegation of BCI is likely to visit USA ,UK & Australia very soon . Hon'ble Union Law Min. may also b a part of this delegation.If u r interested we may supply u details for publication.Hope u will publish the important constructive steps of the body of lawyers instead of unnecessary offensive criticisms.Nobody can prove any sort of malpractice or any incident of corruption in any of the activities of BCI.in last 3-4yrs.Some people who r having some personal vendetta against BCI may utter any baseless thing,we damn care & when needed we take appropriate action also.But a responsible media has an independent role to play.Any media ,if really interested in publishing news relating to legal affairs,it is expected to b in regular touch with the apex body of lawyers.Whats the opinion of lawyers of country on any issue,what step lawyers r going to take & the other related issues could be brought to the notice of people through media only.

If u go through ur articles & stories published in  last 3 yrs,u will find that Ur legally India has been involved in criticising BCI on whatever issues u hv published so far.I think u should ask ur people to change their negative attitude & b positive.

Before criticising BCI on the issue of legal education or the decisions of LEC u or ur representative ought to have contacted me,& publish the views of BCI too on this vital issue.

Hope good sense will prevail & as a true media ,u will think over the matter & u will ask ur representatives to act with responsibility & sincerety.

If u r really interested in publishing the news relating to detailed plan & purpose of visit of delegation ,u can contact me on Monday.

Thanks. (sic)

Kian Ganz’s reply:

Dear Mr Mishra,

Due to your legal notice dated 21 May 2015, I have been advised by several of our legal counsel that we can not enter into correspondence with you without our independent legal adviser present until you unilaterally withdraw your notice in accordance with our full response to your notice, which will be sent to you in due course.

That said, our stories have always been balanced and we have met our ethical and journalistic duties by trying our best to include the BCI's and your views when available.

I would also like to remind you that the vast majority of the time you chose not to take advantage of our offers of carrying your comment on BCI-related stories, since you did not respond to our calls or messages. I also struggle to recall times that you or the BCI have reached out or shared any positive news by way of press releases or otherwise.

Blaming us in retrospect that our coverage of the BCI has been too focused on the negative is therefore no one's fault but your own.

Notwithstanding the above, we will be happy to publish your statements on any BCI initiatives, such as the below, in full and unedited. Please feel free to send me further details by email on the "change in policy with regard to entry of foreign lawyers & law firms" and any other "important constructive steps" of the BCI that you would like us to publish.

Your sincerely,
Kian Ganz

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