Despite the Supreme Court and various High Courts having clearly ruled that the legal profession does not involve commercial activity, the Electricity and Water-supply departments have been unlawfully imposing a commercial tariff on the offices of advocates across the State. Furthermore the municipalities and panchayats have also been illegally treating the offices of advocates as a commercial enterprise. All this after the Courts having clearly ruled that the legal profession is a noble profession, and not a business or a trade. It would be appropriate for the office of our very proactive Advocate General to clarify the legal position and kindly issue an office memorandum to the Chief Electrical Engineer, PWD Chief Engineer and the Directors of Municipal Administration and panchayats so that the offices of the advocates are not unduly overcharged. Let us hope our various advocate associations will also take steps to highlight and redress this injustice being meted out to advocates. The charges for the noble profession must be set on a non-commercial basis and in keeping with the Supreme Court's ruling.
