Anirudh Alex Victor
Rajasthan became the first State in India to pass a bill for the protection of advocates. The bill safeguards advocates against assault and grievous hurt. The Advocates Protection Bill came up in the State Legislative Assembly last week and was enacted by voice vote today with significant modifications. The Bill aspires to eliminate assault, serious injury through criminal force, and criminal intimidation against advocates in accordance with the fulfillment of their obligations as advocates. It also prohibits harm or destruction to their belongings.
The law proposes a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison along with a penalty of Rs. 50,000 for committing grave harm to an advocate, and in case of an assault on a lawyer, the maximum punishment is two years in prison.
Sections 6 and 7 render each of the offenses as per the law cognizable and, in addition, compoundable. In addition to the sentence, the criminal is responsible in corresponding circumstances for making compensation for loss or damage caused to an advocate’s property, as evaluated by the Court. The bill also includes a section wherein an accused might even be found liable to reimburse the medical expenses incurred by such advocate as may be assessed by the Court. Section 4 of the Bill allows for police protection for advocates that require it. The proposal also seeks to prosecute an advocate who abuses this Act’s provisions, exploits them for malignant objectives, or files a deceptive complaint under it.
Section 11 makes exploiting the Act’s provisions a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 2 years in jail. The Bar Council of India (BCI) has encouraged the Rajasthan government to enact legislation to assist lawyers and their families. This was done consequently to the heinous murder of a lawyer in the state in broad daylight, which precipitated a lawyer strike.