The Allahabad High Court recently directed the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to prepare a complete list of all pending complaints alleging professional misconduct by lawyers and submit the same to the Court [Smt Kailashpati vs State of UP & 3 Others].A Division Bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh sought the information after noting that it had come across several cases where the State Bar Council had failed to act on time on complaints against lawyers.It was hearing a matter in which the petitioner’s grievance was that she had made a complaint against a lawyer in November 2021 and it was still pending..The Court observed that since no action was taken within the stipulated period of one year, the proceedings would now stand transferred to the Bar Council of India.“We find similar petitions are being filed on a regular basis with similar allegations. Once the complete mechanism exists and there is not only a time limit to decide the complaint but also consequence of transfer of such complaint to the Bar Council of India after expiry of one year, it is imperative on the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to look into the matter more seriously,” the Court said..It stressed that the State Bar Council should ensure that all complaints of professional misconduct received by it are processed and concluded in a time bound manner.“Due information of the status of the complaints may be communicated to the complainants or be made visible to the complainants on the website of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh itself,” it added..The Court sought the exact status of the petitioner's complaint as well as the list of all other complaints and listed the matter for consideration on May 13.Advocates AP Singh and Ashraf Ali represented the petitioner.[Read Order]
