An independent disciplinary committee constituted by the Bar Council of India (BCI) has found five advocates of Tamil Nadu State Bar Council “guilty of professional misconduct” during their protest against Madras High Court’s order for strict implementation of helmet rule last year.
The committee has ordered the removal of the advocates from the rolls. Meanwhile, it has barred eight other advocates from practising for a period of three years.
The committee was headed by C.R. Gopalaswamy, a member of the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC). Appajigowda, also a member of KSBC, and R.G. Hegde, an advocate, were the members of the committee.
The committee passed its order on Friday after concluding the inquiry, which lasted nearly 10 months.
The BCI suo motu had initiated disciplinary proceedings and the TNSBC had framed charges against the 13 advocates. Later, it had constituted the independent committee for an impartial inquiry and fixed Bengaluru as venue for inquiry proceedings.
The charges against the 13 advocates related to holding of protest against the order passed by the Madras High Court on helmet rule, raising slogans against the judge by storming the court room and abusing the judges in filthy language, among others.
