The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which amends the Advocates Act of 1961 and repeals the Legal Practitioners Act of 1879, was approved by the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill in the Rajya Sabha on August 1; the upper house then passed it on August 3. The Central Government’s effort to repeal “all obsolete laws or pre-independence Acts” that have outlived their usefulness includes the Bill.

It proposes to repeal the Legal Practitioners Act of 1879 and regulate the legal profession solely through the Advocates Act of 1961, keeping a clause addressing touts in courts.

“With the exception of the issue pertaining to ‘touts,’ all the aspects addressed in the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 are already covered under the Advocates Act, 1961,” reads the bill’s statement of purpose and reasons. All of the sections 1, 3, and 36 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 have been repealed, in accordance with clause (a) of sub-section (5) of section 50 of the Advocates Act, 1961.