SC calls for regulating hefty fees of lawyers 

SC calls for regulating hefty fees of lawyers 

Context

The astronomical fees charged by lawyers and the commercialisation of the legal profession is a violation of the fundamental right of the poor to get equal justice, the Supreme Court held in a latest judgment

Backdrop

The judgment came in the case of B. Sunitha, a woman from Telangana whose husband died in a road accident. She was made to sign a cheque for ₹three lakh by a lawyer who represented her accident claims case in the lower courts. This was over and above the ₹10 lakh she had already paid to him

Bench’s observation

A Bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit, in a scathing judgment on the state of the legal profession, said that neither the Bar nor the judiciary have made any move to regularize the hefty fees charged by lawyers from the poor and the needy

• Law commission’s report: A report filed by the Law Commission way back in 1988 to regularise lawyers’ fees continues to be in cold storage. The very essence of the legal profession is to provide inexpensive access to justice, the court observed
• The apex court urged for a law to check the violation of professional ethics by lawyers as the confidence of the public in the legal profession is integral to the confidence of the public in the legal system