New Delhi: Law minister Veerappa Moily ruled out on Friday the entry of foreign legal firms in India, but said finality on the contentious issue could be achieved only after consulting the legal fraternity.
"We have to discuss it with an open mind. Unless there is an open debate and stake-holders are taken into confidence, we cannot decide," he said.
His predecessor HR Bhardwaj had urged lawyers to stop opposing the entry of overseas firms, saying they would create jobs.
The Bar Council of India, Bar Association of India headed by Fali S Nariman and Society for Indian Law Firm president Lalit Bhasin, among others, are opposed to the move.
Bhasin met Moily early this month and urged him to withdraw the government affidavit before the Bombay high court favouring foreign law firms' entry. The high court is seized of a writ petition filed by Lawyers' Initiative last year, challenging the entry of foreign law firms.
Moily feels improved legal education would make debates over foreign entry "irrelevant". "With qualified legal professionals, India will become the resource reservoir of the global legal fraternity," he said.
International law firms have been barred from practising in India since a 1995 Bombay HC ruling.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_moily-doesn-t-want-foreign-law-firm...
