BCI’s Draft Rules Inadequate in preventing advocates’s strikes

On December 10, 2024, the Supreme Court directed Common Cause, the amicus curiae, and the BCI Chairperson to provide suggestions on draft rules submitted by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to prevent advocates’ strikes.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan highlighted the absence of provisions explicitly prohibiting strikes, citing the Ex-Capt. Harish Uppal vs UOI (2002) judgment, which bars advocates from striking, permitting abstention only in “rarest of rare” cases.

Justice Dhulia noted that every strike is documented as cases from District Courts progress to High Courts, where reasons for such disruptions are recorded.