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TMI Blog1953 (9) TMI 26X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cretary of the Labour Union, which is the third respondent herein, and on that, the Tribunal heard all the parties concerned and passed an order on 24-9-1951 refusing permission to the first appellant to appear for the second appellant. Thereupon the appellants moved this court under Article 226 of the Constitution for a writ of certiorari to quash the order of the Tribunal on the grounds that it was an unconstitutional denial of the right of the first appellant to practice his profession and that it was further repugnant to Article 14 of the Constitution and was, therefore, void. Subba Rao J. before whom the petition came up for heaving disagreed with these contentions and dismissed the same. It is against this order that the present appeal has been brought. 2. The statutory provisions bearing on these questions are Sections 9(1) and 14(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Indian Bar Councils Act (Act XXXVIII of 1926) and Section 36(4) of the Industrial Disputes Act (Act XIV of 1947) as amended by the Industrial Disputes Appellate Tribunal Act (Act XLVIII of 1950). Section 9(1) of the Indian Bar Councils Act is as follows : The Bar Council may, with the previous sanction of the Hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... quirements as to age, qualifications, and character. Vide Halsbury's Laws of England, 2nd Edn., Vol. 2, pages 481 to 485, paragraph 655. What his rights are after admission to the bar is thus stated: As soon as a person has been called to the bar he can at once begin to practice as a barrister, unless he is disqualified by statute or by some rule of the profession or restricted by some condition imposed by his Inn ........ A barrister has, when in practice, the following rights and privileges; (1) the right of audience as an advocate in all the superior courts and most of the inferior courts. Halsbury Vol. 2, page 491, para 662. The other rights mentioned in that paragraph are not material for the purpose of the present appeal. The right to appear, is; it is to be noted, only before courts; where the question is whether a barrister is entitled to appear before tribunals, the answer to it must be found in the terms of the statute by which the tribunals are created. Thus Section 137(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1918 as amended by the Finance Act of 1923 provides for barristers and solicitors being heard in appeals against assessments. Section 7 of the Architects (Regist ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e admitted into every office and position Including those which require highly special qualifications and demanding special responsibilities. It is the prerogative of the legislator to prescribe regulations founded on nature, reason and experience for the due admission of qualified persons to professions and callings demanding special skill and confidence. 6. This court had occasion to consider the nature of this right in -- 'Ananthakrishna v. State of Madras', AIR1952Mad395 (C). There the point for determination was whether a levy of stamp duty on an application for enrolment by an advocate was an unconstitutional restriction on the right to carry on the profession- It was held that it was not. Considering in that connection the nature or the right of counsel to practice. His Lordship the Chief Justice observed, Much was said at the Bar as to what exactly is comprised in the right to practice a profession guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g). Taking the profession of law what does this right consist in? Is the effect of Article 19(1) to confer on every person who may be otherwise qualified the right to practice in any court in the land? I see nothing in Article 19(1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icially or is it a right which is regulated and restricted by the very charter which permits him to practice his profession? If a lawyer's right was an absolute right then undoubtedly, rule 36 is a restriction upon that right, because it prevents him from appearing before a domestic tribunal like the tribunal set up under the Co-operative Societies Act and we would then have to consider under Sub-clause (6) of Article 19 whether that restriction was a reasonable restriction or not. But as I shall presently point out, the right of a lawyer to practice is not an absolute right. The very charter which gives him the right to practice controls, limits and circumscribes his right. After examining the provisions of the Bar Councils Act the learned Judges proceeded to observe it should be remembered that it is not the fact that a man has passed a law examination or has acquired a law degree that entitles him to practice in courts of law; his right to practise depends upon his being enrolled as an advocate and he is enrolled as an advocate of terms and conditions laid down in the Bar Councils Act. Examining next the provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act, the learned J ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ground exists for treating appearance before tribunals differently from appearance before courts. There can be little difficulty in answering this question. The courts as we have them, are governed by certain rules in the matter of procedure, reception of evidence and so forth which have their roots in age long traditions. The tribunals are comparatively recent institutions which owe their existence to statutes and the principles by which they are governed are not identical with those which courts observe. The matters which they have got to decide may be purely administrative in which case, it is conceded, there is no question of appearance by lawyers. Even when the dispute is of a character which involves the exercise of judicial functions, the tribunals would be more in the position of arbitral bodies, not bound by strict rules of procedure or of evidence. With reference to such tribunal, the Legislature which establishes them has also felt itself free to lay down the procedure which they should follow in the hearing of the disputes and it may generally be stated that subject to rules of natural justice they enjoy in the matter of procedure and trial a freedom which the courts ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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