“A practicing advocate cannot work simultaneously as a full-time journalist,” the Bar Council of India recently told the Supreme Court, citing Rule 49 of the BCI Rules of Conduct, Livelaw reported. The rule mandates that an advocate must not engage in any other full-time or part-time salaried employment while practicing law.
The BCI made the submission to a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Manmohan in a case filed by one Mohammad Kamran, who reportedly identified as both a lawyer and a freelance journalist.
The bench noted that the petitioner’s counsel had accepted the correctness of the stand taken by the BCI. “We have heard the learned counsel for BCI which has submitted that as per the rules laid down, an advocate cannot be allowed to pursue part-time or full time journalism. The petitioner has filed an affidavit of undertaking stating that he is no longer working as a journalist and will only practice as an advocate.”
On December 13, the BCI said that Rule 51 provides some leeway for advocates to engage in journalism, but such activities should be limited to contributions directly related to legal practice and understanding. Such activities must also not conflict with their primary professional obligations, compromise the dignity and independence of the legal profession, or result in a dual-profession arrangement.
The bar said such journalism could only encompass scholarly articles, opinion pieces, or editorial contributions that maintained a “meaningful nexus” with the legal profession. “Even (when it comes to) part-time journalism… the said professional activity will also be an embargo on the practice of law as an advocate.”
Kamran subsequently filed an affidavit that he no longer worked as a journalist and only practised law.
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