Indian lawyers will be able to practice in all courts and tribunals across India irrespective of which bar council they are enrolled in, after law minister Veerappa Moily said he would notify long-pending section 30 of the Advocates Act 1961.

Currently advocates can only practice in courts within the state where they hold their bar council enrolment.

The Hindu exclusively reported on its frontpage today that Moily said: “I traced the file relating to this provision. For some reasons this section remained in the statute without being notified. I decided to notify this section and signed necessary orders. The notification is expected to be issued either on June 7 or 8.”

Section 30 of the Act states:

Subject to provisions of this Act, every advocate whose name is entered in the State roll shall be entitled as of right to practise throughout the territories to which this Act extends,-

(i) in all courts including the Supreme Court;

(ii) before any tribunal or person legally authorised to take evidence; and

(iii) before any other authority or person before whom such advocate is by or under any law for the time being in force entitled to practise.

Moily also added that under his vision statement to reduce the pendency of cases was progressing well, with Rs 1,000 crore out of Rs 5,000 crore having been released by the 13th finance commission to extend subordinate court working hours.

Elaborating on the process of the project, he told The Hindu that he had written to high courts’ chief justices reiterating the need to reduce the pendency of cases in courts from 15 to three years by 2012. “He said he had asked the CJs to launch the campaign from July by fixing targets and types of cases for disposal. He had suggested to them to follow summary procedure as allowed by law, plea bargaining and compounding of cases to reduce the caseload in courts,” said The Hindu.

By Norman B Leventhal Map Center at the BPL