Rajasthan has become the first state in India to pass a law for the protection of lawyers. The Rajasthan State Legislature passed the ‘Rajasthan Advocates Protection Bill’ by a voice vote after it was introduced in the Assembly last week.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) recently urged the Rajasthan government to pass a law to protect advocates and their families. This was in the light of the heinous murder of a lawyer in the state in broad daylight and the resulting lawyers’ strike.
The Bill aims to prevent the offenses of assault, grievous hurt, criminal force and criminal intimidation against advocates and causing damage or loss to their property.
Section 3 of the Bill states that any act of assault, grievous hurt, criminal force and criminal intimidation against an advocate shall be deemed to be an offense under the Act if such act is in connection with the discharge of the duties of an advocate in court.
Section 4 of the bill states that if an advocate makes a complaint to the police about such act as mentioned in section 3, the police shall, if it thinks fit, provide protection to such advocate.
Section 5(1) provides for assault or using criminal force against an advocate with a maximum imprisonment of two years as well as a fine of up to Rs 25,000.
Section 5(2) provides for a maximum imprisonment of seven years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000 for the act of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to an advocate.
Section 5(3) makes the offense of criminal intimidation against an advocate punishable with imprisonment of a maximum term of two years and a fine of up to ₹10,000.
Section 6 states that any offense under the Act shall be cognizable, which means that an accused can be arrested by the investigating officer without a warrant.
Section 11 punishes misuse of the provisions of the Act which shall be punishable with imprisonment of up to 2 years.
