E-Paper
Lawyers oppose HC bar council’s move to appoint ex-IG Kunwar Vijay as panel member
A high court bench has questioned former officer’s role as SIT member in the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case probe
A section of lawyers on Saturday opposed the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council’s decision to appoint former inspector general of police (IGP) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh as member of its disciplinary committee.
It was on Friday that a high court bench had questioned Kunwar Vijay’s role as Punjab Police’s special investigation team (SIT) member in the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case probe.
“Seeing this conduct of the respondent (Kunwar Vijay), one may harbour an idea that he may be indulging in theatrics to fulfil his own post-retirement political ambitions as several officers have done after demitting office,” the bench of Justice Rajbir Sehrawat had observed.
The judgment came on the day when the bar council led by chairman Minderjeet Yadav held a ceremony in which the former IPS officer was handed over his licence to practise as an advocate besides making him a member of the disciplinary committee.
The disciplinary committee of the bar council, which has more than 1 lakh members from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, investigates complaints against lawyers in the two states and the UT.
“The move is in total violation of section 9 of the Advocates Act, 1961, and transparency. It is requested that the decision be reconsidered immediately keeping in view the high traditions of the council,” Baltej Singh Sidhu, former secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association said in a letter to the council.
Sidhu said he personally held nothing against the former IPS officer. “Kunwar Vijay does not know how lawyers work. As per rules, a member of the committee has to have 10-year experience,” he said.
Kunwar Vijay, who did his bachelor’s in laws (LLB) from Panjab University in 2010, approached the council to grant him licence after his resignation in the aftermath of a high court judgment of April 9 in which SIT probe reports were set aside in the Kotkapura firing case and the Punjab government was told to constitute new SIT excluding him as member.
Bar council chairman Yadav said a meeting was called on Monday to reconsider the decision in view of complaints that Kunwar Vijay does not fulfill criteria as a disciplinary committee member.
