Agartala, March 8 (IANS) The Bar Council of Tripura has barred 260 lawyers from practicing in courts for not practicing in the last five years, a top official said here on Wednesday.

"On the direction of the Bar Council of India (BCI), Bar Council of Tripura has initiated the process last year to identify the non-practicing lawyers. Accordingly, 260 advocates have been identified who did not practice in courts in the last five years," Bar Council of Tripura chairman Pijush Kanti Biswas told IANS.

He said that the Bar Council of Tripura on Monday already displayed the names of 260 lawyers in all courts in Tripura including the High Court and barred them from practicing in courts.

"If the debarred lawyers wish to restart the practice in court, their case would be examined as per the Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015 and after that the Bar Council would take a final decision," said Biswas, a senior lawyer of Tripura.

Bar association membership of these 260 lawyers would also be invalidated.

He said that following the Supreme Court directions in 2010, BCI had asked all the state bar councils to identify and debarred the non-practicing and non-serious lawyers.

"There were many people who had taken law degree many years ago, and enrolled themselves in the profession as an advocate. But for certain reasons, while some of them switched over to other professions, some became full-time politicians and some people remained out of practices for numerous reasons."

According to the Tripura Bar Council chief, the de-recognised lawyers did not practice in any court for the last five years or more.

The important personalities whose names were revoked as advocates for not practicing in courts in the last five years include, Tripura assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath, Trinamool Congress leader and legislator Sudip Roy Barman, his father and former Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman, Bharatiya Janata Party state Vice President Subal Bhowmik.

The BCI on the direction of the apex court initiated the process to weed out fake and non-practicing lawyers by implementing the Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules.

Biswas said that the state Bar Councils had issued guidelines by the BCI to segregate practicing lawyers from non-practicing lawyers.

"Those lawyers took the law degree from any institutions while working in government jobs or doing other service and processions, they would also be disallowed from practicing in the courts. However, advocates of these category not yet identified," he added.

Bar Council of Tripura chief said that several lakhs lawyers from across the country also met the same fate in same reasons.

"The de-recognised lawyers would not be allowed to cast vote during the bar associations' elections as well," Biswas added.