Bengaluru: The High Court has ruled that advocates do not have the right to park their vehicles inside court premises.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) brought by advocates N. S. Vijayanth Babu, noting that while Section 30 of the Advocates’ Act grants lawyers the right to practise law, it does not grant them the right to park their vehicles on court premises. The court said that “the petition is misconceived as there is no element of public interest involved in it.”
The petitioner, who is a member of the Bengaluru Advocates‘ Association, approached the court to have a notice dated August 5, 2022 that the Association had issued regarding the issuance of new vehicle stickers to its members quashed.
The notice appears to have been issued to restrict the entry of the vehicles used by advocates and to solve their parking issue, said the court. “We have carefully perused the petition. No particulars have been furnished by the petitioner about the advocates who visit the courts in Bengaluru from outside,” it added.
As there is a lack of parking space on the court’s premises, vehicle entry must be regulated. The court noted that even if a sticker is given to an advocate who is a member of the Association, that does not mean they have the right to use a parking space on the court’s premises.
