Mumbai: HC relief for govt pleader, proceedings stayed till April 12 as court terms it 'witch hunt'

The Bombay High Court on Friday stayed an order passed by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) initiating disciplinary proceedings against government pleader Geeta Shashtri terming it as a “witch hunt”.

Bench directed any consequential roceedings will be stayed til 12th April 

A bench of Justices GS Patel and Neela Gokhale also directed that any consequential proceedings which may arise out of the order will be stayed till April 12. A lawyer had filed a complaint with BCMG against Shashtri alleging that she committed forgery and perjury by putting signatures on certain documents attached to an affidavit.

“Has the Bar Council initiated a witch hunt against advocates? On the basis of the annexures there is a complaint that there is no practice note but an order. These are people in government service! We will stay it, we will order a stay on the proceedings,” said the bench. 

Petition stated a written statement is filed with annexed documents

The HC was hearing a plea filed by Shashtri challenging an order of the single member committee of the BCMG relegating the matter to a disciplinary committee under the Bar Council of India. 

Her petition stated that in a suit against the state government, a written statement had been filed where certain documents had been annexed. The documents had been signed as true copies by another government lawyer. Shashtri, meanwhile, had signed the written statement which had the annexures appended. The lawyer opposing the state took objection to the ‘true copy sign’ and filed an application before the City Civil Court, Mumbai, alleging perjury and forgery against Shashtri.