The Bar Council of Delhi has passed an interim order barring Big Four professional services firms EY, Deloitte, PwC and KPMG from practicing law in India, according to media reports.

According to the Business Standard, the ruling was made following a complaint from Lalit Bhasin, president of the Society of Indian Law Firms, who said that "all these firms are actually accounting firms, however, they are engaged in doing law practice".

Bhasin claimed that the accounting firms have been encroaching into the practice of law, and that their practice of hiring law graduates to provide non-litigation legal services was in contravention of the Advocates Act.

While KPMG and Deloitte have already filed their reply, EY and PwC have six weeks and four weeks respectively to file their responses, added the Business Standard.

The matter will be next heard by the Bar Council of Delhi on July 12.

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