K. ANJINAPPA versus K.C. KRISHNA REDDY AND ANR.

Citation: [2021] 9 S.C.R. 1034 · Decided: 17-12-2021 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: M.R. SHAH · Disposal: Disposed off

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Judgment (excerpt)

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[2021] 9 S.C.R.
   [2021] 9 S.C.R. 1034
1034
K. ANJINAPPA
v.
K.C. KRISHNA REDDY AND ANR.
(Civil Appeal No. 7478 of 2019)
DECEMBER 17, 2021
[M. R. SHAH AND B. V. NAGARATHNA, JJ.]
Advocates Act, 1961 – ss.35, 36, 36B – Held: Disposal of a
complaint received by a State Bar Council u/s.35 within a period of
one year from the date of receipt of such complaint is mandatory –
Only in an exceptional case, by giving valid reasons to be recorded
as to why the complaint could not be disposed of within one year,
such complaints are required to be transferred to the Bar Council
of India as provided u/s.36B – Thus, the transfer of the complaint(s)
received u/s.35 from the State Bar Council to the Bar Council of
India is an exception – Further, on such transfer the Bar Council of
India shall also dispose of the transferred proceedings/complaints
within one year from receipt thereof – In the present case, the
complaint filed by appellant against an advocate before the Andhra
Pradesh State Bar Council was not decided for one year and,
therefore it was transferred to the Bar Council of India which
dismissed it without considering it on merits – However, now
subsequently the complaint has been disposed of by the State Bar
Council – Revision is pending before the Bar Council of India –
Thus, no further order is required on the complaint made by the
appellant.
Advocates Act, 1961 – s.36B – Object and purpose of –
Discussed.
Advocates Act, 1961 – Bar Council of India/State Bar Councils
– Duty cast upon – Discussed – Judicial Deprecation.
Advocates Act, 1961 – s.36B – Disposal of complaints –
Mechanism for – Directions and suggestions – Discussed.
Disposing of the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1.1 An affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Bar
Council of India wherein it is stated that in last five years, 1,273
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complaints filed under Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961 have
been transferred to the Bar Council of India as the concerned
State Bar Council(s) did not dispose of the complaint(s) under
Section 35 of the Advocates Act within one year. During the years
2020 and 2021, there have been lesser number of complaints
filed. But earlier from 2016 to 2019, the number of complaints
transferred from the State Bar Councils to Bar Council of India
have been steadily increasing from 171, 242, 214 and 490
respectively. These statistics not only reflect on the increasing
number of complaints being filed against the advocates but also
the fact that the State Bar Councils have not discharged their
duty in disposing of these complaints within a period of one year
and have simply allowed the complaints to be transferred by
operation of law from the State Bar Councils to the Bar Council
of India in terms of Section 36B of the Advocates Act. The object
and purpose of the said provision must be understood in its right
perspective. It is not simply to pass on the responsibility from
the State Bar Councils to the Bar Council of India and thereby
avoid their responsibility of inquiry into the complaints that are
filed before them. The aforesaid section states that the
disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council shall dispose of a
complaint received by it under Section 35 expeditiously and the
proceedings shall be concluded within a period of one year from
the date of receipt of the complaint or the date of initiation of the
proceedings at the instance of the State Bar Council, as the case
may be, failing which, such proceedings shall stand transferred
to the Bar Council of India. The object of transfer of such
proceedings to the Bar Council of India is an intimation that the
State Bar Council has failed to dispose of the complaint within a
period of one year as aforesaid. In such circumstance, the Bar
Council of India will have to dispose of the same as if it were a
proceeding withdrawn for inquiry under sub-section (2) of Section
36 of the Act. Sub-section (3) of Section 36 of the Advocates Act
states that the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of India
in disposing of any case under Section 36 shall observe as far as
may be the procedure laid down in Section 35 the references to
the Advocate General in that section be considered as references
to the Attorney General of India. Under sub-section (3) of Section
35 of the Advocates Act, there is a mandate for the disciplinary
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