The Supreme Court of India on Monday observed that bar associations passing resolutions prohibiting lawyers from defending accused persons amounts to contempt of court.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala objected strongly to Bharatpur Bar Association for suspending the licences of three lawyers appointed as legal aid defense counsel by the district legal aid services authority.
“Bar Associations passing a resolution that lawyers will not represent an accused is nothing but criminal contempt. Bar associations cannot pass such resolutions. Reason why lawyers say no one should appear for defense is nothing but criminal contempt,” the bench remarked.
The bench was hearing a petition challenging the suspension of three lawyers’ licences.
It summoned the officers of the Bharatpur Bar Association to appear in court and explain their decision to suspend the lawyers’ licenses.
The legal aid services authority had established a ‘Legal Aid Defence Counsel Scheme’ for the district of Bharatpur.
According to the scheme, lawyers will be hired full-time to work solely on providing legal aid to people accused or convicted of crimes.
When the recruitment process for the scheme began, lawyers in Bharatpur protested.
However, the petitioners, advocates Purnaprakash Sharma, Puneet Garg, and Madhavendra Singh, continued to work under the scheme and did not take part in the protest.
As a result, the petitioner was served with a show cause notice for opposing and weakening the movement.
When the counsel refused to budge, they were suspended for failing to conform.
The petitioners approached the Supreme Court, requesting that contempt of court proceedings be initiated against the bar association’s officers.
They claimed that the association was impeding their work.
The same bench had stayed the Bar Association’s suspension letter in April, 2023.
