The Advocates’ Act, 1961, does not confer any right to advocates to park their vehicles inside the court premises as Section 30 of the Act only confers the right on the advocates to practice, the High Court of Karnataka has said.
A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order while dismissing a PIL petition filed by N.S. Vijayanth Babu, a Bengaluru-based advocate.
Association’s move
The petitioner had questioned the move of the Advocates’ Association, Bengaluru (AAB), to issue stickers to its members to affix on their two and four wheeler vehicles for the purpose of entry in to the parking areas within the premises of the courts in Bengaluru.
The petitioner has said that move of the association impacts the advocates who travel from other places to argue their cases in the courts in Bengaluru as parking would be restricted only to the members of the AAB, which is issuing stickers for availing parking facility in the premises of the courts in the city.
It has been contended in the petition that restricting entry of vehicles of only the members of the AAB would violate the right to practice guaranteed to an advocate under Section 30 of the Advocates Act.
However, the Bench made it clear that even if a sticker is issued to an advocate who is member of the AAB, the same does not guarantee that the advocate is entitled to parking space in the premises of the court.
It noted that AAB’s move to issue stickers for vehicles appears to be to regulate entry of vehicles used by the advocates and is intended to find a solution to the parking problems faced by them.
Need for regulation
“The parking space on the premises of the court is limited and the entry of the vehicles needs to be regulated,” the Bench said while pointing out that the petitioner has not provided particulars of advocates who visit the courts in Bengaluru.
The AAB, which has around 20,000 advocates on its rolls, is charging ₹500 per sticker for four-wheelers and ₹200 per sticker for two-wheelers. A member can avail a maximum of two stickers each for both categories of the vehicles by providing necessary document. The sticker is valid for three years.
