The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) has asked activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan to appear before it on October 23 following his conviction by the Supreme Court, which imposed a token fine of Re 1 on him, in a contempt case.
The Bar Council of Delhi move has come in pursuance of the resolution of September 6 of the top bar body, the Bar Council of India (BCI), asking its Delhi chapter to take a legally-mandated decision in this matter keeping in mind the conviction of Prashant Bhushan.
Bar Council of Delhi has sought Mr Prashant Bhushan’s response on as to why proceedings should not be initiated to revoke his enrolment as a lawyer inview of the conviction for his alleged contemptuous tweets against judiciary.
He is also required to send his response to the Council within 15 days as to why proceedings under section 24A and 35 of the Advocates’ Act be not initiated against him in view of the tweets in question and the conviction. While section 24A disqualifies a person from being enrolled as an advocate on a conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude, section 35 provides for displinary proceedings against an advocate for professional or other misconduct, which may result in reprimand, suspension from practice or even removal from the rolls of the concerned Bar Council.
The BCD has cautioned Mr. Bhushan that if his response is not received within the stipulated time, it will be presumed that he does not wish to reply, and that proceedings will be conducted ex parte in case he chooses not to appear before the Council.
