Lawyers elected as MPs can practise: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea to ban lawmakers from practising as advocates, saying the Bar Council of India rules do not prohibit them.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had on July 9 reserved the order on the PIL filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, seeking to bar lawyer-lawmakers (MPs, MLAs, MLCs) from practising in courts during their tenure in Parliament.

The bench had earlier taken note of the Centre's submission that an MP or an MLA is an elected representative and not a full-time employee of the government, hence the plea was not maintainable.