President of the Tamil Nadu Advocates Association and Member of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP), S. Prabhakaran assumed charge as Member of the Bar Council of India,, representing BCTNP, here on Saturday.
Chairman of the BCTNP, D. Selvam; Vice Chairman, P.S. Amal Raj and 12 other newly elected Members of BCTNP and Vice President of the Tamil Nadu Advocates Association, Antony Selvaraj were present on the occasion. BCI Member D.R. Sharma, representing Himachal Pradesh and the officiating Secretary of BCI, J.R. Sharma, welcomed Mr. Prabhakaran and other Members.
In a brief interaction, Mr. Prabhakaran brought to the notice of the BCI the resentment among the law students in Tamil Nadu over the introduction of the All India Bar Examination. He said the stipulation that only after passing this examination one would be eligible for enrolment did not go well with the law graduates in Tamil Nadu, where all forms of entrance test had been abolished through legislation. As a result of the agitation, the BCI had cancelled the AIBE in the State and till now it had not been held.
Mr. Sharma, however, said that it was for the Full Council of the BCI to take a final view of the AIBE. He said the issue of entry of foreign lawyers was another important issue which should be addressed by the BCI.
On Saturday, a delegation of the BCTNP, headed by Mr. Prabhakaran; Vice-Chairman of BCTNP, P.S. Amal Raj and 12 newly elected Members of BCTNP, along with Mr. Antony Selvaraj met the Law Minister and impressed on him the need for notifying Section 30 of the Advocates Act to allow advocates to practice in all fora.
Mr. Moily assured them that the government had already taken a decision in this regard and the notification was to be issued shortly.
