Describing the draft Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025 as "anti-lawyer" and "draconian," the Bar Council of West Bengal announced on Friday that members of all bar associations across the state will abstain from participation in judicial works on February 24 as a mark of protest.
They claimed that the bill, which proposes to amend the Advocate Act, 1961, would take away the power and privilege of the council. It is an attempt to supersede the power of the elected members and to take control through the back door, the council noted.
The proposed amendment makes it clear that regardless of whether lawyers call their protest a movement, boycott, or strike, it must not cause any inconvenience to litigants, even for a single day. If the judicial process is disrupted or the public is forced to return without legal proceedings, such protests will be declared illegal.
In a press release, the Bar Council of West Bengal said, “Bar Council of West Bengal is surprised after going through the draft of the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in which the Central Government attempted to curtail the right and privilege of the Advocates.”
The draft amendment bill has made clear that “advocates may participate in a strike only when it does not impede the administration of justice”. The bill has further said the strike must happen in a way “that does not disrupt court proceedings or violate clients’ rights.
Lawyers in West Bengal argue that the proposed amendment deprives them of their right to strike during protests. As a result, the bar council decided in Friday’s meeting that the bill would be opposed by suspending a day’s work.
The Bar Council of India has also raised objections to the central government regarding the draft Advocates Amendment Bill, 2025. In a letter to Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Wednesday, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra expressed concerns that the bill could undermine the bar's autonomy and independence.
A day later, Mishra, who serves as a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP as well, urged all bar associations and state bar councils “to refrain from strike or any form of protest that could disrupt the administration of justice”.
In a letter to the Bar Council of Delhi, the All District Court Bar Associations of Delhi, Delhi High Court Bar Association and District Bar Associations of Delhi, he stated that Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had assured, during his meeting with the bar, that no provision would be enacted that goes against the interests of the legal profession or its autonomy.
