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K. Anjinappa v. K.C. Krishna Reddy

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 921Decided 17 Dec 2021
Civil Appeal No. 7478 of 2019
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice B.V. Nagarathna

Background

The appellant had filed a professional misconduct complaint against his own advocate before the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh in 2013. Since the State Bar Council failed to decide it within the one-year period mandated by law, the complaint was automatically transferred to the Bar Council of India, which then dismissed it on the technical ground that a co-complainant had not signed it, without examining the actual misconduct allegations. The complainant appealed this dismissal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

While hearing the appeal, the Court discovered a much larger systemic problem: 1,273 complaints against advocates across India had been left undecided by State Bar Councils and transferred to the Bar Council of India, which was also failing to dispose of them promptly. The Court directed the Bar Council of India to clear this backlog within one year, suggested that it and the State Bar Councils empanel retired judges or senior advocates as Inquiry Officers to speed up hearings, and issued detailed directions mandating that complaints be decided within the one-year statutory period except for genuine, recorded reasons. The Court also extensively cited precedent on the high ethical standards expected of lawyers and the Bar's duty to self-regulate, emphasizing that passing the buck to the Bar Council of India defeats the purpose of timely disciplinary action. On the appellant's specific complaint, since it had since been separately decided by the State Bar Council (with a revision now pending), no further order was needed on it.

Lesson Learnt

If you file a misconduct complaint against your lawyer and the State Bar Council sits on it for over a year, it is automatically transferred to the Bar Council of India, but you may need court intervention if even that body delays disposal, as this case led the Supreme Court to order systemic fixes to a nationwide backlog.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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