Oral Judgment: (J.P. Devadhar, J.)

1. Basically two questions are raised in this petition. They are, firstly, whether the permissions granted by the Reserve Bank of India to the respondent Nos.12 to 14 foreign law firms to establish their place of business in India (liaison office) under Section 29 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 are legal and valid ? Secondly, assuming such permissions are valid, whether these foreign law firms could carry on their liaison activities in India only on being enrolled as advocates under the Advocates Act, 1961 ? To be specific, the question is, whether practising in non litigious matters amounts to ‘practising the profession of law’ under section 29 of the Advocates Act, 1961?

2. The Parliament has enacted the Advocates Act, 1961 (‘1961 Act’ for short) to regulate the persons practising the profession of law. To ensure the dignity and purity of the noble profession of law, the 1961 Act provides for establishment of the State Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India. The Bar Councils have been created at the State level as also at the Central level not only to protect the rights, interests and privileges of its members but also