The Bar Council of India has remitted back to the Bar Council of Karnataka, disciplinary proceedings initiated against 14 lawyers of the Madurai bar, suspended by the Council.
On November 12, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had directed BCI to take a decision within a week on a plea seeking transfer of the disciplinary proceedings to Bengaluru.
The bench had givn the direction on a PIL by one M Moahamed Rafi seeking a direction to restore the disciplinary proceedings against the advocates to Karnataka State Bar Council, as originally proposed by BCI.
The petitioner had also prayed to the court to quash the October 12 last order of Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BTCP) rejecting his request that the inquiry be conducted by the Bar Council of Karnataka.
The bench had said the interim injunction granted by it on October 26 restraining the Special Disciplinary Committee (SDC), set up by BTCP, from going ahead with its proceedings against the lawyers would continue till BCI took a decision.
BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, in a communication to the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry yesterday, said the first sitting of the disciplinary committee would be held at the Karnataka Bar Council at Bangalore on December 6.
BCI had suo-motu passed an order on September 22 suspending the advocates for staging a protest against certain judges and passing resolutions in the Madurai Bench.
BCI also directed Bar Council of Karnataka to constitute a disciplinary committee and to hold the proceedings.
However, on a plea from TN Bar Council that it has already constituted a committee and gone ahead with the disciplinary proceedings, BCI modified its order and allowed BTCP to continue the proceedings.
Meanwhile, Rafi and others moved court seeking to transfer the proceedings back to Karnataka Bar Council alleging bias of the members of the disciplinary committee.
They alleged that two of the three members of the disciplinary committee have close link with these lawyers. As such, the probe would not be conducted in a free and fair manner.
Holding that allowing the proceedings to be conducted by the TN Bar Council committee would give room for more grievances and complaints in future, BCI transferred the matter back to Karnataka Bar Council.
It also directed the Karnataka Bar Council to constitute the three-member panel, comprising its own members Gopal Swamy and Appaji Gowda with advocate R G Hegde and to conclude the proceedings within six weeks.
