The State of Jammu & Kashmir will finally get its State Bar Council. .Putting an end to a four-year old litigation in Supreme Court, the Central government today told the Supreme Court that it will publish the Jammu & Kashmir State Bar Council Rules in the official gazette within four weeks..The Court recorded the submission by the Centre and directed it to publish the Rules in the gazette “positively within four weeks.”.In the last hearing, the Bar Council of India had told the Supreme Court that the BCI had approved the Jammu & Kashmir State Bar Council Draft Rules and that these draft rules would be forwarded to the Central government for publication in the gazette..This development came about in a petition filed by Senior Advocate Bhim Singh praying that a State Bar Council should be established in J&K. Currently, the High Court of J&K has been functioning as the Bar Council of J&K, in accordance with a transitory arrangement provided under Section 58 of the Advocates Act, 1961..Singh had alleged that no initiative was being taken to constitute the Bar Council by holding elections in accordance with the provisions of the Act. He also alleged that the denial to the lawyers’ fraternity of J&K to have a democratically elected Bar Council amounted to a violation of fundamental rights under Article 14, 19, 21 as well as the provisions of the Act..When the matter came up for hearing almost two years back, Justice Thakur had berated the High Court and the state government for their inaction in the matter..Image taken from here.
