SC MOOTS IDEA OF MENTAL FITNESS TEST FOR ADVOCATES

Mooting the idea of fitness test for advocates, the Supreme Court has suggested changes in the Advocates Act and the relevant rules to ensure that they were physically and mentally fit to conduct a trial.

Setting aside a Delhi High Court order to re-examine 13 prosecution witnesses, including the victim in the Uber rape case, a bench comprising Justices JS Khehar and Adarsh Kumar Goel asked the authorities concerned, including the Bar Council of India and Law Commission to look into the issue.

“Perhaps time has come to review the Advocates Act and the relevant Rules to examine the continued fitness of an advocate to conduct a criminal trial on account of advanced age or other mental or physical infirmity, to avoid grievance that an Advocate who conducted trial was unfit or incompetent,” the bench said.

“The interest of justice may suffer if the counsel conducting the trial is physically or mentally unfit on account of any disability. The interest of the society is paramount and instead of trials being conducted again on account of unfitness of the counsel, reform may appear to be necessary so that such a situation does not arise,” it noted.

In the Uber rape case, he new counsel of the accused had sought to recall and re-examine all the witnesses on the ground that the witnesses could not be cross-examined on account of illness of his predecessor.