A city-based lawyer was recently found guilty of a significant professional misconduct and had his license suspended for a year by the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana (BCPH). The daughter-in-law of a 70-year-old landlord submitted a complaint, which led to the Council’s judgment.
The Council stated that serious accusations were made against the lawyer, which prompted this action, even though the lawyer’s name has not been made public.
False Identity and Harassment Charges
According to the complaint, the lawyer rented the residence by pretending to be a banker, but it turned out that he was actually a practicing attorney.
The plaintiff also claimed that the lawyer failed to make timely rent payments. He bothered the landlord, who was 70 years old.
In addition to demanding money when requested to leave the property, the attorney pressured the landlord’s family by bringing fake criminal charges against them.
Legal Notifications Were Disregarded
The Council filed a case against the lawyer ex-parte, or in his absence, as he disregarded the several notices and failed to appear at any sessions.
Because of the gravity of the accusations and the lawyer’s uncooperative behavior, the Council has suspended the lawyer’s legal practice license for a year.
The following are the reasons given by the Disciplinary Committee:
- Misrepresenting his line of work
- Making fun of his elderly landlady
- Abusing his legal expertise
- Filing fictitious lawsuits to put pressure on the landlord’s family
It was determined that the lawyer’s actions were both detrimental to the reputation of the legal profession and a major breach of professional ethics.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in N G Dastane vs. S S Shivde (AIR 2001 SC 202), which dealt with the lawyers’ professional misconduct, served as the foundation for the Council’s conclusion.
In a formal statement, the Council declared:
“The case against the respondent is completely proven. He has abused his position as an advocate and committed misbehavior. The entire legal profession is tarnished by this. Such grave wrongdoing cannot be disregarded by the Bar Council. Given his early career, we have chosen to suspend his license for a year with immediate effect, even though he deserves to be permanently removed from the advocate roll. He is currently prohibited from appearing in any Indian court.”
Conclusion
In summary, the case serves as a warning to attorneys that they must adhere to strict ethical standards and that abusing their position and expertise would not only hurt individuals but also damage the standing of the legal profession as a whole. A clear interpretation of the Bar Council’s ruling would be that professional misbehavior is unacceptable.
However, even if the Council judged the aforementioned attorney guilty.
However, the Council took into account the fact that the lawyer was only starting his legal career, thus instead of permanently removing him off the list, he was suspended for a year as a severe warning.
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