MADURAI: The Madurai HC Bench on Thursday directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to examine within a week and take action, if needed, on the allegations of bias raised against the special disciplinary committee (SDC) of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTM) that is probing complaints against advocates.
The court issued the order while disposing of the writ petition filed by a Madurai based advocate M Mohamed Rafi demanding the transfer of the inquiry to Karnataka. He claimed that the BCTM’s SDC was acting in favor of the suspended advocates.
Rafi alleged that some of the suspended advocates being probed were close to two members of the SDC and wondered if the enquiry would be credible.
Countering the petition, advocates RC Paul Kanagaraj and T Lajapathi Roy argued that transfering the enquiry to another state would worsen the advocates’ plight. Disposing of the petition, the two-judge Bench, comprising Justices R Sudhakar and VM Velumani, said that as it was the Bar Council of India which formed the enquiry panel, it would be appropriate only for the Bar Council of India to examine the allegations.