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Professional Conduct & EthicsSupreme Court of India

Anand Kumar Sharma v. Bar Council of India through Secretary

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 299Decided 1 Mar 2019
Civil Appeal Nos. 2426-2427 of 2019
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

The appellant's enrolment as an advocate (originally in Himachal Pradesh, later transferred to Rajasthan) was cancelled by the Bar Council of India in 1995 after it found he had suppressed facts, including a prior government service and a criminal case, at the time of enrolment, a cancellation the Supreme Court itself had earlier upheld. He then made several fresh attempts over the following years to get re-enrolled as an advocate in Rajasthan, each of which was rejected by the Bar Council of Rajasthan and confirmed by the Bar Council of India. He challenged these rejections in two connected appeals before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that the suppression found against the appellant at the time of his original enrolment, concerning his government service and a criminal case, justified cancellation under Section 26 of the Advocates Act, which empowers the Bar Council of India to remove a person from the roll of advocates obtained by misrepresentation. It held that a later acquittal in the criminal case did not erase the original suppression, and that the appellant's repeated fresh applications for enrolment amounted to an abuse of process given the Supreme Court had already affirmed the cancellation once. Both appeals were dismissed, upholding the orders of the Bar Councils of Rajasthan and India refusing re-enrolment.

Lesson Learnt

Concealing material facts (such as prior employment or a pending criminal matter) while seeking professional enrolment can lead to permanent cancellation, and a later acquittal does not retroactively cure a misrepresentation made at the time of the original application.

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