In a previous post, I had discussed why India's ban on foreign lawyers pauses a threat to its emergence as an arbitration hub. A proposed legislation to enhance professional standards among Indian lawyers and protect the interests of their clients will knowingly or unknowingly remove the legal basis of the decision in Lawyers Collective v Bar Council of India which prohibited foreign lawyers from carrying on any law-related activity in India including the activities of liaison offices of foreign law firms. The proposed legislation
The Ministry of Law and Justice has published a draft Legal Practitioners (Regulation and Maintenance of Standards in Profession, Protecting the Interest of Clients and Promoting the Rule of Law) Act, 2010. The ministry invites comments from the public on the same.
By way of background, it may be noted that the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had ruled in D.K. Gandhi v M. Mathias that despite the existence of separate regulatory regime for lawyers under the Advocates Act, 1961, the legal services rendered by Advocates are "services" and hence clients could initiate proceedings against their lawyer under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Though the decision has been appealed before the Supreme Court, the matter is yet to be conclusively decided.
