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When an advocate was punished for contempt of court can he appear thereafter as a counsel in the courts, unless he purges himself of such contempt? If he cannot, then what is the way he can purge himself of such contempt. That question has now come to be determined by the Supreme Court.

This matter concerns an advocate practising mostly in the courts situated within Ernakulam District of Kerala State. He was hauled up for contempt of court on two successive occasions. We wish to skip the facts in both the said cases which resulted in his being hauled up for such contempt as those facts have no direct bearing on the question sought to be decided now. (The detailed facts leading to the said proceedings have been narrated in the two decisions of the High Court of Kerala reported in C.N. Presannan vs. K.A. Mohammed Ali 1991 Criminal Law Journal 2194 and 1991 Criminal Law Journal 2205). Nonetheless it is necessary to state that the High Court of Kerala found the respondent-advocate guilty of criminal contempt in both cases and convicted him under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and sentenced him in one case to a fine of Rs.10,000/- (to be credited, if realised, to the funds of Kerala Legal Aid Board). In the second case he was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/-. Though he challenged the conviction and sentence imposed on him by the High Court, he did not succeed in the Supreme Court except getting the fine of Rs.2,000/- in one case deleted. The apology tendered by him in this Court was not accepted, for which a two Judge Bench made the following observation:

While imposing the interdict on the advocate the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of the State took into account Rule 11 of the Rules framed by the High Court of Kerala under Section 34(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961, regarding conditions and practice of Advocates (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). Rule 11 reads thus:
No advocate who has been found guilty of contempt of Court shall be permitted to appear, act or plead in any Court unless he has purged himself of the contempt.
The above rule shows that it was not necessary for the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council to impose the said interdict as a punishment for misconduct. Even if the Bar Council had not passed proceedings (which the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India has since set aside as per the impugned order) the delinquent advocate would have been under the disability contained in Rule 11 quoted above. It is a self-operating rule for which only one stipulation need be satisfied i.e. the advocate concerned should have been found guilty of contempt of court. The termini of the period of operation of the interdict is indicated by the next stipulation i.e. the contemnor purges himself of the contempt. The inhibition will therefore start operating when the first stipulation is satisfied, and it would continue to function until the second stipulation is fulfilled. The latter condition would remain eluded until the delinquent advocate himself initiates steps towards that end.
The independence and autonomy of the Bar Council cannot be surrendered to the provisions contained in Rule 11 of the Rules made by High Court of Kerala under S.34(1) of the Advocates Act.
By giving expression to such a proposition the Bar Council of India has obviously overlooked the legal position laid down by the Constitution Bench in Supreme Court Bar Association vs. Union of India (supra). In paragraph 57 of the decision the Bench said thus: In a given case, an advocate found guilty of committing contempt of court may also be guilty of committing professional misconduct, depending upon the gravity or nature of his contumacious conduct, but the two jurisdictions are separate and distinct and exercisable by different forums by following separate and distinct procedures. The power to punish an advocate by suspending his licence or by removal of his name from the roll of the State Bar Council for proven professional misconduct vests exclusively in the statutory authorities created under the Advocates Act, 1961, while the jurisdiction to punish him for committing contempt of court vests exclusively in the courts.
This Court has held in M.Y. Shareef and anr. vs. Honble Judges of the Nagpur High Court and ors. (AIR 1955 SC 19) that an apology is not a weapon of defence to purge the guilty of their offence, nor is it intended to operate as a universal panacea, but it is intended to be evidence of real contriteness. Ahmadi, J (as the learned Chief Justice then was) in M.B. Sanghi, Advocate vs. High Court of Punjab and Haryana and ors. {1991(3) SCC 600}, while considering an apology tendered by an advocate in a contempt proceeding has stated thus: