SC stays Madhya Pradesh HC order barring 10 lawyers from practice

New Delhi, April ,10 2024: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Madhya Pradesh High Court order which had barred ten lawyers, who were the office bearers of the Bar Association at Seoni, from appearing before any court for one month as they indulged in calling a strike. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra stayed the order but cautioned the lawyers, to act responsibly. “Lawyers must show some responsibility as well. You did not like some land allotted and you went on strike,” the Court said. The Court then issued notice on the plea. Advocates Siddharth Gupta, Mrigank Prabhakar and Shailendra Verma appeared for the petitioners. The case pertains to an order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court by which it barred the elected office bearers of the Bar Association at Seoni, from appearing before any court for one month. The High Court had also barred the petitioners from contesting elections for three years in any
Bar Association or State Bar Council of the State. The lawyers filed a petition before the Apex Court pleading that the order was passed by the High Court without giving them an opportunity to be heard. They highlighted that the High Court also removed them from their offices overnight with the constitution of a new ad-hoc committee of the District Bar Association. This was contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in R Muthukrishnan v High Court of Madras
it was contended. The Top Court in that case had held that a High Court could not usurp the statutory powers conferred by the Parliament on the State Bar Council and the Bar Council of India (BCI) of imposing disciplinary punishment and debarring lawyers from appearing in court. Relying on the same, the petitioners moved the Supreme Court to quash the High Court order.