The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTP) has ordered the removal of the name of advocate R. Karmegam, who had in a cinematic style rammed his SUV into a restaurant in Madurai in April 2016 due to a land dispute with its owner, from the rolls of the council.
In a communication sent to the advocate, BCTP secretary C. Raja Kumar has directed him to surrender the enrolment certificate as well identity card since a disciplinary committee, led by senior counsel R. Singaravelan, had found him guilty of grave misconduct.
10 criminal cases
The action had been taken pursuant to a complaint lodged by the restaurateur M. Hariharasudhan who pointed out that the S.S. Colony police station in Madurai had opened a history sheet against the advocate because he was facing as many as 10 criminal cases.
Apart from cases of cheating, damaging property and forging documents on the basis of complaints lodged by various persons, Mr. Karmegam had also been booked under Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act of 1998 after a complaint was lodged by his neighbour.
Subsequent enquiries regarding his antecedents revealed that he had got enrolled with the Bar Council in 2013 by suppressing criminal cases pending against him.
He was suspended from practice in 2014, yet continued to appear in various courts and argue cases.
What forced the restaurateur to approach the Bar Council was the advocate’s act of having driven an SUV into the busy restaurant two years ago thereby posing threat to the lives of customers as well as employees and causing damage to property worth ₹60 lakh.
Kabali-style action
The act was caught on the Closed Circuit Television camera and was telecast in many television channels. Shocked to watch the video footage, the disciplinary committee termed it as a ‘Kabali’ (Rajinikanth starrer don movie) style adventure.
Defending his action, the advocate claimed that the restaurateur was the villain “because of whom he was forced to don the role of a hero”.
“But in that real cinematic fight, the victims were the general public,” the disciplinary committee said and decided to strip Mr. Karmegam of his black robes.
