Who Can Practice Before Tribunals? Delhi HC To Consider Legality of Non-Lawyers if CA And CS can appear Before Tribunals
The Delhi High Court highlights that the right of non-advocates to appear before tribunals is dependent on statutory provision and that the right to appear must be reconciled with the sole right to practice law granted by the Advocates Act, 1961, an issue that is now pending judicial determination.
The Delhi High Court is currently considering a major issue that has implications for the practice of law in all tribunals in India, namely whether unenrolled advocates such as Chartered Accountants (CAs), Company Secretaries (CSs), and Cost Accountants are permitted to appear and plead on behalf of clients before tribunals. The issue arises out of a set of writ petitions filed...
The Delhi High Court is currently considering a major issue that has implications for the practice of law in all tribunals in India, namely whether unenrolled advocates such as Chartered Accountants (CAs), Company Secretaries (CSs), and Cost Accountants are permitted to appear and plead on behalf of clients before tribunals.
The issue arises out of a set of writ petitions filed by the Bar Council of India, the Association of Tax Lawyers and other petitioners, questioning the validity of non-advocates appearing before tribunals under various statutory provisions, specifically Section 432 of the Companies Act, 2013.
The petitioners have argued that the Advocates Act, 1961 gives the exclusive right to practice law before courts and tribunals to enrolled advocates, and that any weakening of this provision will have a negative impact on the regulation of the profession.
The matter is being heard before a Division Bench consisting of Justice Prathiba M.Singh and Justice Madhu Jain. The Bench observed that the controversy involves basic questions about the nature of the practice of law, the powers of tribunals to regulate appearances, and the relationship between the Advocates Act and profession-specific legislation regulating CAs and CSs.
Senior counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that Sections 30 and 33 of the Advocates Act explicitly prohibit non-advocates from practicing before any court or tribunal, and that not even statutory permissions under the rules of the tribunals can trump the parliamentary will expressed in the Advocates Act.
It was further submitted that non-lawyers may not be able to conduct proceedings involving evidence, cross-examination, and interpretation.
On the other hand, professionals like CAs and CSs are based on explicit recognition under the Companies Act and rules of the tribunal claiming that tribunals are specialized forums where domain knowledge is as important as legal acumen.
While adjourning the case for further hearing, the Court clarified that no further adjournments will be allowed emphasizing the need to finally put an end to an issue that affects the entire country.
Hence, the final decision is expected to have huge implications for representation before tax, corporate, and regulatory tribunals in India.
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