R.VENKATARAMAN Vs. SECRETARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard both sides and perused the materials available on record.

(2.) This Court by order dtd. 3/2/2014, in W.P(MD)No.10315 of 2013, directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to take necessary action for removal of advocates, who have completed the law course in violation of clause 28 Schedule III Rule 11 of Rules of Legal Education, 2008 of Bar Council of India. Placing reliance on the same, the second respondent / Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry issued show cause notice, calling upon the petitioner to explain as to why his name should not be removed from the rolls of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, for the alleged violation referring to his age. Challenging the said notice, the petitioner has come up with this writ petition to quash the same.

(3.) The issue involved herein is no longer res integra. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Indian Council of Legal Aid and Advice and others v. Bar Council of India and another reported in 1995 (1) SCC 732, has observed that fixing a bar at the age of 45 years is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, discriminatory, unreasonable and arbitrary. Paragraph 13 of the said judgment is usefully extracted below: