MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here on Friday restrained advocate T. Michael Stanis Prabhu, reportedly facing several criminal cases including a recent case booked by Thoothukudi South police for stabbing another lawyer, from acting as a member of an adhoc committee appointed by Bar Council of India (BCI) to look after the affairs of Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry until elections to the latter were held to elect new office-bearers.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and J. Nisha Banu granted the interim stay on a writ petition filed by V. Chinnadurai, Joint Secretary of Thoothukudi Bar Association, through his counsel Shaji Chellan. The petitioner had urged the court to issue a direction to the BCI to initiate appropriate proceedings against the accused lawyer and remove him from the council in order to uphold the dignity of the Bar and safeguard the legal profession.
Appearing on behalf of the writ petitioner, Senior Counsel M. Ajmal Khan listed out as many as 18 criminal cases pending against the advocate for heinous offences under the Indian Penal Code as well as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. He pointed out that Justice S. Vaidyanathan of the High Court had also recently dismissed an anticipatory bail application preferred by Stanis Prabhu in the case registered against him for attempting to murder lawyer L. Raguraman.
While rejecting bail, the judge had lamented that “some lawyers accumulate wealth through notoriety, corruption, deception, protection of despicable clients and protecting thieving clients which made Adolf Hitler to utter that he shall not rest until every German sees that it is a shameful thing to be a lawyer.” He also took note of the fact that the accused advocate was involved in as many as 23 criminal cases and some of them had ended up in acquittal.
