The Supreme Court of India has highlighted the necessity for mandatory training for lawyers, mirroring the structured training provided to judges. The observation came during a hearing on the bail plea of Souvik Bhattacharya, son of Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, who is facing charges related to the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam.

The bench, consisting of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, expressed a crucial perspective that advocates should undergo compulsory training and must not practice unless they possess a certificate from a recognized law university. This call for mandatory training for lawyers echoes the existing practice for judges attending the National Judicial Academy.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing Bhattacharya, informed the court about the filing of a bail application in the trial court without a summoning order. In response, the bench questioned the absence of a dedicated law academy for lawyers, emphasizing that while judges have such institutions, there is a gap for legal practitioners. The justices stressed the need for educating lawyers properly and urged action by the Bar Council against erring lawyers.

The court asserted, "If judges can go to the National Judicial Academy, why not lawyers? Unless they have a certificate from a recognized law university, they should not be allowed to practice. It is there in foreign countries. It is not that nobody knows it, the problem is that nobody wants to implement it."

This notable observation brings attention to the existing gap in the legal profession's training and education system. The call for compulsory training for every lawyer, including senior advocates, aims to ensure a higher standard of legal practice and accountability.

The Supreme Court directed Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case, to verify if there was any summoning order and scheduled the matter for a hearing after a week. The case involves TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya and his son seeking bail in connection with alleged irregularities in teachers' recruitment in West Bengal.

The ED, which arrested Manik Bhattacharya in October 2022, is tracking the money trail in the alleged scam, while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is looking into the irregularities committed in the recruitment process. The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed Bhattacharya's plea against his arrest, emphasizing the legality of the ED's actions.