Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the Bar Council of India to revoke within a week, the order of suspension passed against Madurai-based advocate M. Thirunavukkarasu, suspended for alleged professional misconduct.
A division bench comprising Justices V. Ramasubramanian and N. Kirubakaran however made it clear that, “We are not interfering with the disciplinary proceedings, as they are also not under challenge before us. We also make it clear that by this order we have dealt only with the case of the petitioner before us and not others”.
The bench said by a detailed order passed by the BCI on September 22, 2015, a group of 15 advocates was placed under suspension, pending an enquiry into serious allegations of misconduct against the advocates.
It was against the said order of suspension, the petitioner, who got elected as the president of the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC Advocates Association, has come up with the petition. “Since the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the BCI is still pending, we do not wish to get into the facts and the allegations which formed the basis for passing the impugned order of suspension”, the bench added. The bench said the contention was that the suspension has already been prolonged.
The disciplinary proceedings were going on. The suspension of government servants or persons in employment stands on a different footing than the suspension of professionals. Therefore, it was contended that suspension pending disciplinary proceedings cannot become prolonged to such an extent that it was turned into a penalty.
“It is true that the suspension of a person in employment stands on a different footing than the suspension of the professionals. An employee under suspension is entitled to get a portion of the salary or wages as subsistence allowance. A professional does not have such a benefit. Similarly, a person in employment is entitled to be compensated if the disciplinary proceedings go in his favour. This cannot happen in the case of a professional”, the bench added.
