Odisha bar council asks lawyers not practising in courts to surrender their licence

There are allegations that some lawyers are doing jobs in private companies, government entities and also getting engaged in business activities after securing licences to practise law

Published on: Aug 29, 2025, 19:59:48 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Bhubaneswar: Odisha State Bar Council has directed lawyers engaged in other professions, including business, and not practising law in courts, to surrender their practising licences within a month.

Lawyers may be a sleeping partner in a firm doing business provided that the nature of the business is not inconsistent with the dignity of the profession, Odisha State Bar Council said. (Representative photo)

“There are allegations that some lawyers are doing jobs in private companies and government entities and also getting engaged in business activities after securing licences to practise law. By doing this, they are violating the norms as prescribed by the Advocates Act, 1961,” the lawyers’ body said in a letter to all district bar associations of Odisha.

Also read: SC upholds Orissa HC lawyer designations

Citing sections in the Advocates Act, the council said an advocate is not supposed to personally engage in any business; but he may be a sleeping partner in a firm doing business provided that the nature of the business is not inconsistent with the dignity of the profession.

“An advocate may be director or chairman of the board of directors of a company with or without any ordinarily sitting fee, provided none of his duties are of an executive character. An advocate shall not be a managing director or a secretary of any company. An advocate shall not be a full-time salaried employee of any person, government, firm, corporation or concern, so long as he continues to practise, and shall, on taking up any such employment, intimate the fact to the Bar Council on whose roll his name appears and shall thereupon cease to practise as an advocate so long as he continues in such employment,” the council said in its letter.

Also Read:Report to work or lose license: Odisha bar council to lawyers after SC warning

The bar council has asked all bar associations in Odisha to take action against the non-practising lawyers if they fail to surrender their licences within a month and initiate criminal proceedings against them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

Bhubaneswar

Home/Cities/Others/Odisha Bar Council Asks Lawyers Not Practising In Courts To Surrender Their Licence