Priyanka Singh
Published on: October 4, 2022 at 20:25 IST
In view of Section 17 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, the Delhi High Court said that the Section doesn’t bar parties from being represented by legal practitioners before the Maintenance Tribunal.
Section 17 of the Act –
The Section bars a party from being represented by legal practitioner before a tribunal or an appellate tribunal, notwithstanding anything contained in any law; this was opposed by a batch of petitions filed by legal practitioners before the High Court in 2019 alleging the section to be a violation of Section 30 of the Advocates Act (right of advocates to practice in courts and tribunals).
Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Amit Mahajan agreed with a 2014 ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which held that is a tribunal is authorized to take evidence, then an advocate has a right to practice there, also noting the fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had previously requested the Centre to revise the provisions of the Act in reference with Section 30 of the Advocates Act, 1961.
One of the petitioners, Adv. Pawan Reley, had challenged the provision of the 2007 Act in the year 2019 after a denial of his presence by the Maintenance Tribunal.
The petitioner was a counsel to the woman in relation to a complaint filed under the Act before the Tribunal.
Section 17 is also said to be in conflict with Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.
The Court said, “It is no doubt true that Section 17 of the said Act begins with the “notwithstanding” clause. However, while determining the right of representation by a legal practitioner, a complete phrase used is “notwithstanding anything contained in any law”.
“The reference in law can only be a law which is in force. On the date when the said Act came into force on 31.12.2007, Section 30 of the Advocates Act did not exist in the statute book. This is so as the Parliament in its wisdom had given the right to the Executive to notify from which date this provision would be applicable.”
“Thus, Section 30 of the Advocates Act would be “any law” only if it was on the statute book. This provision came on to the statute book only w.e.f. 15.06.2011.”