Supreme Court Erases Negative Comments by Uttarakhand High Court Regarding Lawyer
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New Delhi, Dec 17 (NationPress) The Supreme Court has mandated the removal of the negative comments made by a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court against a lawyer.
A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan, while deliberating on an appeal that contested certain negative observations made by a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court concerning the appellant, stated: "The appellant is a lawyer by profession. He neither represented any party in this matter, nor was he in any way connected to it."
The bench emphasized the importance of courts, including the highest court in the nation, to uphold the principle of natural justice. "No one should be condemned without being heard," asserted the apex court.
The court declared that "the Uttarakhand High Court's method of making comments against the appellant without providing him an opportunity to be heard is entirely untenable in law."
In its controversial ruling, the Uttarakhand HC indicated that the misleading assurances given by advocate Dushyant Manali, on behalf of the revisionist, constituted professional misconduct.
Taking suo moto notice, the high court referred the case to the Bar Council to initiate suitable disciplinary actions against the advocate for the incorrect sharing of information with the litigant, which led to the revisionist filing a late challenge against the order issued by the executing court concerning the contested decree.
"The Bar Council is instructed to proceed strictly following the regulations governing disciplinary actions of the Bar Council and under the Advocates Act," it had directed.
Upon allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court stated that the segment of the disputed judgment and order containing negative remarks will be removed from the records.
Earlier in October this year, the highest court had ordered the removal of the "unjustified and illegal" remarks made by a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court against an advocate.
The court condemned "the tendency of the learned Judge of the High Court to make remarks against advocates without any significant basis for such criticism."
In similar circumstances, the Supreme Court had previously annulled all comments made by the same judge of the Uttarakhand HC against another practicing lawyer.
