Dispose Of Complaints Against Lawyers Expeditiously To Maintain Purity Of Profession- Supreme Court To BCI

A Bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice Krishna Murari observed-

"To have the discipline and maintain the purity of the profession the complaints made by the concerned litigants are required to be dispose of at the earliest so that the litigants may continue to have the faith in the profession and in its system."

The Court extended the time to dispose of the complaints received by BCI and/or transferred to the BCI up to December 31,^, 2022.

The Court was in agreement with the contention of the Senior Counsel and BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra praying for the extension of time by three months to complete the inquiries into the complaints transferred to the BCI.

"As a last chance, we extend the time to dispose of the complaints received by the BCI and/or transferred to the BCI upto 31st December, 2022. The BCI must decide and dispose of the complaints received and/or transferred to the BCI at the earliest keeping in mind that as such before the Bar Council of the concerned States, the complaints were pending for more than one year and they were required to be transferred in exercise of power under Section 36(b) of the Advocates Act, 1961," the Bench observed.

The Court also took note of the fact that despite the complaints being pending for more than one year, the State Bar Councils concerned have not transferred the cases to the Bar Council of India.

"Without expressing anything on the correctness of the statement, we once again reiterate our earlier order and direct that all concerned State Bar Councils, before whom the complaints are pending for more than one year from the date of filing shall stand transferred to the Bar Council of India, as ordered earlier," the Bench held.

The Court held that the Bar Council of India must ensure early disposal of those cases which are transferred and/or deemed to have been transferred by its earlier order and the present order.

The Apex Court had earlier directed the BCI to issue directions to state bar councils to dispose of the complaints against lawyers received under Section 35 of the Advocates Act within a year. The Court had further directed the BCI to dispose of the transferred complaints within a period of one year from the date of receipt of such complaints. The Court had also said that complaints should be transferred from the state to BCI only in exceptional cases with valid reasons.

Cause Title - Charanjeet Singh Chnderpal v. Vasant D. Salunkhe & Ors.

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