Chennai, Jan 23 (BPNS)
The Madras High Court on Monday reserved its judgment on a petition filed by an advocate against an order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that lawyers should wear gowns while appearing before NCLT bench.
A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shafiqq reserved the orders on a petition filed by R. Rajesh, a practicing advocate. The petitioner argued before the court that a division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justice Ravichandrababu (since retired) and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam passed an interim stay on the notification issued by the NCLT registrar.
The petitioner in his complaint said that the NCLT registrar was again demanding the advocates to wear the gown before the benches of the NCLT without complying with the interim stay.
Advocate Rajesh in the petition said, “ The notification and subsequent orders passed by the NCLT Registrar is illegal, arbitrary and devoid of merits.”
He also said that the grounds of the interim stay by the Madras High Court was that the notification is against the rules of the Bar Council Of India. The Bar Council Of India states that advocates should wear a gown while they are appearing before High Courts and Supreme Court.
Advocate S.R. Raghunathan who represented the Bar Council of India supported the petitioner’s argument and stated that the NCLT Registrar could not issue such a statement as it was against the Bar Council of India rules.
The BCI’s counsel said that they had sent a notice to the NCLT Registrar against the new order issued despite an interim stay order by the Madras High Court division bench. The Bar Council Of India’s Counsel said that the registrar had withdrawn the order after receiving the notice.
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