Bill direct attack on autonomy of legal profession: M K Stalin

CHENNAI: Chief minister M K Stalin fired yet another salvo at the Union govt on Sunday alleging the Advocates Amendment Bill 2025 was a direct assault on the autonomy of the legal profession.
In a social media post on Sunday, Stalin said though the Union govt was forced to withdraw the draft bill due to ‘spontaneous protests and strong opposition,’ there was a rider that the bill will be reconsidered and processed afresh.
“This is condemnable. The DMK demands the total withdrawal of this Bill and appeals to the Union govt to respect the autonomy of the legal profession,” Stalin said in the post.
Stalin’s attack on Centre comes in the backdrop of a political slugfest between DMK and the BJP-led Union govt over New Education Policy (NEP). Stalin has been alleging that NEP will not be implemented in TN as it imposes Hindi and intrudes into the state's education policy.
Scaling up the attack on the BJP, Stalin said the Advocates Amendment Bill was also against Tamil.
“The BJP’s aversion to Tamil is evident in this Bill, as it wants to rename the Bar Council of TamilNadu and Puducherry as the Bar Council of Madras. TN is not just a name; it is our identity,” Stalin said.
He said the BJP govt has been systematically undermining the independence of the judiciary since 2014 when it came to power. This was done first by trying to hijack judicial appointments through the National Judicial Appointments Commission and then by ignoring the collegium's recommendations for judicial appointments and transfers, he said.
“Now, by seeking control over bar councils, it aims to weaken judicial independence,” he added.
Earlier, Stalin said Tamil Nadu is losing out to other states in the delimitation exercise due to population control. Speaking at a marriage function of a DMK functionary here, Stalin said that TN was in a disadvantageous position due to its efficient implementation of population control measures as less population means fewer parliamentary seats in the delimitation exercise. Nevertheless, he urged people to limit the number of their children.
He also reiterated that TN will not adopt the three language policy even if it means losing out ₹10,000 crore.