Allahabad High Court stays conviction of lawyer to avert suspension of his Bar licence

The Allahabad High Court recently granted relief to a lawyer who was facing Bar Council proceedings for the suspension of his licence to practice the law on account of a trial court's 2023 decision to convict him in a criminal case [Siddha Nath Pathak And Another v. State of Uttar Pradesh].Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan reasoned that the suspension of the lawyer's licence to practice the law (Bar licence) would lead to irreparable damage to his career, financial and social life. The Court cited several other judgments to note that a criminal conviction can be stayed during appeal proceedings, if the conviction is going to cause irreparable injury to the convict which cannot be reversed."The suspension of license of the applicant-appellant no. 2, who is shown to be a practicing lawyer at Civil Court, Faizabad/Ayodhya would certainly be a circumstance which may adversely affect him financially as well as socially and would certainly cause an injury of the nature of irreparable character as suspension of his license to practice law would certainly affect his clientage/profession as well as reputation," the judge went on to note. Therefore, the Court stayed the lawyer's conviction in the criminal case until the next date of hearing in his appeal against the trial court verdict."The record of the trial court is available and the appeal is expected to be decided in near future. Thus, having regard to all the above facts and circumstances of the case, it is provided that the conviction of the applicant- appellant no. 2, namely, Sanjay Kumar Pathak … shall remain stayed/suspended till the next date of listing," the Court ordered. .The Court was dealing with an appeal challenging a trial court judgment that had convicted the lawyer and several others following an clash between two groups. The sessions court had convicted the accused (including the lawyer) of offences under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 323 (hurt), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).The accused lawyer was sentenced for five years of imprisonment by the trial court. He challenged this verdict before the High Court. He also later secured bail from the High Court. .Meanwhile, the trial court's conviction prompted a complaint against the accused lawyer before the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, which had led to the initiation of proceedings for the suspension of his Bar licence.His counsel told the High Court that the accused man was a young lawyer and that he would suffer irreparable financial and reputational loss if his licence were to be cancelled on the basis of this complaint. It was also argued that no specific role in the alleged crime was assigned to the accused lawyer. Rather, all the accused were generally accused of having committed assault. Even going by the prosecution's case, no offence has been made out under Section 308, IPC, it was further contended. .Having considered rival contentions, the Court eventually decided to stay the conviction of the accused lawyer for the time-being. The matter will be heard next by the High Court on May 29. .Advocates Ayodhya Prasad Mishra, Alok Kr. Misra, Ayush Shukla, Badrish Kumar Tripathi, Jaylaxmi Upadhyay, Rituraj Mishra, Sanjay Mishra appeared for the appellants (accused).Advocates Anand Mani Tripathi, Badrish Kumar Tripathi represented the State. .[Read Order]