“Fairness is a hallmark of great advocacy”, “Members of the Bar are expected to act as officers of the Court, to conduct themselves in a reasonable and fair manner”, Supreme Court reminds lawyers ! The Apex Court, referred to the National Judicial Data Grid, and found that there is a huge pendency of suits in the Trial Courts in the State of Maharashtra. In this case, due to persistent objections raised by an Advocate, the Trial Court had to record a substantial part of the cross examination in question and answer form which consumed a lot of time of the Court. Taking note of this, the Apex court said: “If the members of the Bar do not cooperate with the Trial Courts, it will be very difficult for our Courts to deal with the huge arrears. …. If the advocates start objecting to every question asked in the cross examination, the trial cannot go on smoothly. The trial gets delayed” –Brihan Karan Sugar Syndicate Private Limited vs Yashwantrao Mohite Krushna Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana – 2023 INSC 831
Advocates or lawyers should not, while acting as counsel or advocates or their capacity as advocates, undertake or volunteer to solemnize marriages. That can well result in Advocates chambers or offices turning out to be matrimonial “establishment”- a consequence never intended- or perhaps never contemplated by law. However, in their capacity as friends or relatives of the intending spouses, their role as witnesses cannot be ruled out. – Ilavarasan vs Superintendent of Police 2023 INSC 813
Can Advocates work as a real estate agents? Is it a professional misconduct? Recently, the Supreme Court upheld a BCI order suspending an Advocate for five years on this ground. The Bar Council had found that this was a case of professional misconduct as this Advocate had taken a General Power of Attorney from his own client in respect of the property which was the subject matter of the suit. The court noted that the Advocate had admitted that the transaction with his client was in his capacity as a real estate agent. This makes it a case of a gross professional misconduct on his part, the court said – Syed Altaf Ahmed vs S. Suson | [Order]
Supreme Court upholds BCI order suspending an Advocate for conducting a business of running taxi service. This Advocate was suspended for having appeared for a person in a suit and against him in another suit (both suit involved the same land). Phoola Ram Jaat vs Sanwar Singh [Order]