Jamshed Ansari v. High Court of Judicature at Allahabad & Ors.
Background
The appellant, an advocate appearing in person, challenged Rules 3 and 3A of Chapter XXIV of the Allahabad High Court Rules, 1952, which require an advocate who is not enrolled on that High Court's own roll to file his appearance jointly with a local advocate who is on the roll (or else seek the court's special leave to appear alone). He argued these rules unreasonably restricted his fundamental right to practise law under Article 19(1)(g) and were beyond the High Court's rule-making power under Section 34 of the Advocates Act, 1961, relying on a Patna High Court ruling that had struck down similar rules (though that ruling had since been recalled). The Allahabad High Court had already rejected an identical challenge in an earlier case and dismissed the appellant's writ petition on the same basis.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that the right to practise law, while a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g), is not absolute and can be reasonably regulated, including under Article 19(6) in the interest of the general public. It found Rules 3 and 3A to be merely regulatory rather than prohibitory, an outside advocate is not barred from appearing, but is required to appear jointly with a local advocate or obtain the court's leave to appear alone, and held this served the legitimate goal of ensuring advocates can be reliably identified and held accountable for the orderly functioning of court proceedings. Relying on earlier precedents (including Bar Council of India v. High Court of Kerala and N.K. Bajpai v. Union of India), the Court held that control over conduct and appearance inside a court is squarely within that court's own supervisory powers under Article 225 and Section 34 of the Advocates Act, and that the Rules passed the test of reasonableness. The appeal was dismissed, with no order as to costs.
Lesson Learnt
A lawyer's constitutional right to practise law does not mean an unconditional right to appear in any court without complying with that court's own reasonable procedural rules: High Courts retain the power to regulate who appears before them, provided the rules do not amount to an outright prohibition.