Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Charanjeet Singh Chnderpal vs Vasant D. Salunkhe on 9 January, 2023
Bench: M.R. Shah, C.T. Ravikumar
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
INHERENT JURISDICTION
CONTEMPT PETITION (C) NO.309/2022
IN
CIVIL APPEAL NO.7478/2019
CHARANJEET SINGH CHANDERPAL APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
VASANT D. SALUNKHE & ORS. RESPONDENT(S)
WITH
SLP(C) Nos. 10771, 10690 AND 16458 of 2022
O R D E R
CONTEMPT PETITION (C) NO.309/2022 IN CIVIL APPEAL NO.7478/2019 In compliance of the earlier orders passed by this Court, a further Report on affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Bar Council of India (BCI). It is stated in paragraphs 4 and 5, as under -
“4. That out of total 2126 B.C.I. Transfer Cases pending, the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India heard, disposed of and delivered judgments in 1433 B.C.I. Transfer cases within a period from 01.12.2021 to 4.1.2023. Furthermore, 295 BCI Transfer Cases have been heard and judgment is reserved in them. 398 cases are still pending before the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India.
For the disposal of the remaining 398 cases, it is humbly prayed some more time may be granted by this Hon’ble Court. Every possible effort is being made to dispose of these matters by conducting expeditious hearings. A total of 305 Disciplinary Committees have been held since 1.12.2021, out of which 138 Disciplinary Committees have been held in 96 days after this Hon’ble Court’s order Signature Not Verified Neetu Sachdeva dated 29.9.2022.
Digitally signed byDate: 2023.01.12 16:18:18 IST Reason:
5. Furthermore, the State Bar Councils have started the process of sending the complaints cases in which the time period of one year is over as calculated from the date of contd..
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filing of complaints in pursuance of the order dated 29.9.2022 of this Hon’ble Court. Bar Council of India will register these cases and decide them also expeditiously.” Shri Manan Kumar Mishra, learned Senior Advocate and Chairman of Bar Council of India has stated at the Bar that so far as 295 BCI Transferred cases are concerned, which are already heard and the judgments are reserved, judgments shall be delivered within a period of two weeks from today. The Bar Council of India is directed to act accordingly. He has also stated at the Bar that so far as the remaining 398 cases are concerned, which are still pending before the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India, the same shall be decided and disposed of at the earliest.
We direct the BCI to finally decide and dispose of those 398 cases pending at the earliest, but not later than eight weeks from today.
In view of the above, we close the present Contempt Petition. However, before parting, we may observe and impress upon all the State Bar Councils that all the State Bar Councils shall make all endeavours to dispose of the complaints within a period of one year from the date of receipt of the same and only in exceptional cases and the special case being made out and for a valid reason shown to the BCI, if the same could not be disposed of within a period of one year, the same may be transferred to the BCI, as ordered earlier. It is emphasised that only in contd..
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exceptional cases and on a valid ground being made out to the BCI, the State Bar Councils may transfer the cases/complaints to the Bar Council of India (BCI), in case they are not disposed of within a period of one year. However, as observed hereinabove, the same shall be in exceptional cases and not in routine manner.
With this, the present Contempt Petition stands closed. All pending applications including application for impleadment stands disposed of.
SLP(C) Nos. 10771, 10690 AND 16458 OF 2022 As now the proceedings are transferred to the BCI, it is expected that the BCI shall decide and dispose of the complaints which are transferred/re-transferred to it at the earliest and in light of the observations made by us in the earlier orders. The Special Leave Petitions stand disposed of Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of.
………………………………………J. [M.R. SHAH] ……………………………………J. [C.T. RAVIKUMAR] New Delhi;
January 09, 2023
ITEM NO.10 + 12 COURT NO.4 SECTION XVII
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
CONMT.PET.(C) No. 309/2022 in C.A. No. 7478/2019 CHARANJEET SINGH CHANDERPAL Petitioner(s) VERSUS VASANT D. SALUNKHE & ORS. Respondent(s) (IA No. 118827/2022 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS IA No. 95562/2022 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS IA No. 135644/2022 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS IA No. 58038/2022 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT IA No. 95557/2022 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT) WITH SLP(C) No. 10771/2022 (XVII) (FOR FOR APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION ON IA 95550/2022 IA No. 95550/2022 - APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION) SLP(C) No. 10690/2022 (XVII) SLP (C) No. 16458/2022 (FOR ADMISSION ) Date : 09-01-2023 These matters were called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.R. SHAH HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C.T. RAVIKUMAR For Petitioner(s) Mr. Charanjeet Singh Chnderpal, Adv./in person Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR For Respondent(s) Mr. Manan Kumar Mishra, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Apurba Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR Ms. Anjul Diwedi, Adv.
For Intervenor(s) Mr. Mahesh Vaswani, in person Ms. Dharini Nagoa, Adv.
Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R CONTEMPT PETITION (C) NO.309/2022 IN CIVIL APPEAL NO.7478/2019 The present Contempt Petition stands closed in terms of the signed order.
Contd..
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All pending applications including application for impleadment stands disposed of.
SLP(C) Nos. 10771, 10690 AND 16458 of 2022 The Special Leave Petitions stand disposed of in terms of the signed order.
Pending application(s) shall stand disposed of. (NEETU SACHDEVA) (NISHA TRIPATHI) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR (signed order is placed on the file)