The Bar Council of India (BCI) could face contempt of court proceedings for undertaking a survey to determine public opinion on corruption in the judiciary.
The survey, which contained a list of 36 questions, was described as the first empirical study of the legal profession in India. However, some of the questions in the survey have sparked a backlash.
Delhi-based lawyer B Joshi filed an application with the Supreme Court in May to stop the survey. He accused the BCI, the regulatory body for advocates, of exceeding its limits by taking up the survey to calibrate the judicial corruption index. “This is a clear affront to the judiciary and action in excess of its jurisdiction,” he said.
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The survey asked lawyers to speak honestly about problems in the judiciary and the BCI had promised to keep the replies confidential. The survey sought the views of lawyers on corruption, the secretive system of judicial appointments, the quality of judges and the conflicts of interest that arise when close relatives of a judge practise in the same court.
The BCI also sought the views of lawyers and the public on a range of other topics, including the entry of foreign law firms into India and whether to re-introduce the bar exam, which the lawyers would have to pass, in addition to their law degree, to be granted a licence to practise.
The lawyers were also asked if the law should be allowed as a part-time job and whether this would impair the functioning of courts.
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