Bar Council Of Delhi Welcomes SC Judgment Upholding Bar's Autonomy To Discipline Advocates

The Bar Council of Delhi on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court judgment upholding the Bar's autonomy to discipline advocates as it quashed the disciplinary rules for advocates framed by the Madras High Court in the year 2016.

The Bar Council of Delhi released a statement welcoming the January 28 decision of the Supreme Court in case titled R Muthukrishnan v The Registrar General of the high court of Judicature at Madras, wherein the apex court quashed the disciplinary rules framed by the Madras High Court which empowered the courts to debar an advocate and initiate action against him if found to have abused a judge, tampered with court record, accepted money in the name of a judge, malign a judicial officer etc.

While quashing Rules 14-A to 14-D for being ultra vires Section 34 of the Advocates Act, the Supreme Court had held that the disciplinary powers to take action against the advocate were within the exclusive domain of the Bar Councils.

"We welcome the decision by the Hon'ble Supreme Court quashing the disciplinary rules against the advocates framed by the Madras High Court. By this judgment the court has upheld the autonomy and dignity of the Bar and has gone to the extent to hold that Bar is independent of Bench and under the Advocates Act, 1961, the Bar enjoys the autonomous status having disciplinary control assigned to the disciplinary committee of the State Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India," said BCD chairman KC Mittal.

"We appreciate the observations by the Hon'ble Court that the Bar Councils have a crucial role to play in a democratic society to ensure the protection of Human Rights in a particular due process and fair trial guarantees," said he on behalf of the BCD.

"We appreciate the observation of the Hon'ble Court that the bar is an integral part of the judicial Administration and its role in the legal system is significant".

It reiterated the observations of the Supreme Court that the Bar and the Bench should maintain the dignity and decorum of each other and that framing of rules for disciplinary action against advocates is within the exclusive domain of the state bar councils which is the statutory body under the Advocates Act and that by framing the impugned Rules to discipline advocates, the high court had encroached upon the exclusive domain of the State Bar Councils.