Madhya Pradesh high court slaps notices on 500 advocates

Additional judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court Justice Alok Verma issued show-cause notices to over 500 advocates for ‘professional misconduct’ on Thursday.

Additional judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court Justice Alok Verma issued show-cause notices to over 500 advocates for ‘professional misconduct’ on Thursday.

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Barring a few, thousands of advocates across the state abstained from work on Thursday following a resolution passed by Madhya Pradesh High Court Bar Association to register their protest against setting up of a circuit bench in state capital.

The court observed that abstaining from work by advocates constitutes professional misconduct as pointed out by the Supreme Court in Ex Captain Harish Uppal vs. Union of India and another in 2003.

Justice Verma also issued a show-cause notice to the state Bar Association seeking an explanation why appropriate action should not be taken against those who abstained from court work.

The Bar association of Indore bench however defended their actions by saying that they were acting on the bandh call given by the association to register their protest against setting up of circuit bench in Bhopal.

The association on Friday slapped notices to nine advocates including some senior and government advocates who appeared for court proceedings on Thursday despite the bandh call.

The secretary of Indore High Court Bar Association, advocate Manish Yadav said, “Senior advocates including Kapil Sibal, Subramanian Swamy, Indira Jaisingh, KTS Tulsi and Vivek Tankha has expressed their support to us against the court’s notices.”