Law and justice are not identical, so what is injustice for those who have lost a case will mean justice for the winners. This became obvious when a lawyer from the Jamshedpur District Bar Association, Sudhir Kumar Pappu, voiced concern over senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra’s ability to do justice to dual roles—as a Rajya Sabha MP and as chairman of the Bar Council of India (BCI). The BCI is the regulatory body for advocates throughout India and frames rules for advocates and senior advocates who are practising.

It is among the four most influential organisations regulating advocates in the country. The others are the Supreme Court Bar Association, the Supreme Court Advocates on Record (AoR) Association, in which advocates who have cleared the tough AoR examination must register, and the Bombay Bar Association.

Manan Kumar Mishra was elected unopposed as the BCI chairman for the seventh consecutive time. He is also a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar. Ipso facto, this senior advocate is both a politician and practices law. This raises the question of whether a politician who is busy with party politics can simultaneously practice law, as both are full-time professions. There are a few persons who have passed their MBBS and also their LL.B degrees but cannot practice both medicine and law simultaneously. If a doctor who has passed his LL.B cannot practice law, there is no reason why a Rajya Sabha MP should head the BCI.

Similarly, there are chartered accountants who have passed their LL.B but are not allowed to simultaneously practice law and accountancy. A company........

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