Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court on Monday (May 26) dismissed an appeal filed by an advocate challenging a disciplinary action taken by the Bar Council of India (BCI), which had suspended him from legal practice for seven years.

The punishment was imposed after the lawyer drove his car into a hotel in Madurai owned by the complainant.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sanjay Kumar dismissed the appeal.

Justice Nath remarked, “See your conduct. As a lawyer you dashed your car into the hotel of the complainant. Lawyers need to be disciplined and not spoil the image of the entire profession.”

Initially, the BCI had suspended the lawyer for one year. The complainant challenged this decision before the Supreme Court, but the Court dismissed the appeal.

Following this, the complainant filed a review petition before the BCI. On review, the BCI enhanced the suspension period to seven years. The lawyer then approached the Supreme Court challenging the revised punishment.

During the hearing, Advocate Abhinav Agrawal for the appellant-lawyer argued that the BCI's disciplinary committee could not have entertained a review after the Supreme Court had dismissed the complainant's earlier appeal on merits. However, the bench disagreed.

Agrawal relied on the Supreme Court's earlier order in the complainant's appeal, which had held that there was no ground to interfere with the BCI's order and the punishment (of one year) and had dismissed the appeal.

However, today the bench pointed out that the conduct of the lawyer, including violation of the initial one-year suspension by filing a vakalatnama during that period. Ultimately, the Court dismissed the appeal.

Case no. – C.A. No. 7096/2025 Diary No. 28536 / 2025

Case Title – R. Karmegam v. Hariharasudan