The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to stay disciplinary proceedings against Advocate Gunaratna Sadavarte by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) for alleged professional misconduct.
๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ: ๐๐
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale said Sadavarte will not be given special treatment merely because he is an advocate and alleges the complaint is politically motivated.
It further said that it did not find any procedural infirmity with the BCMGโs notice.
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ
A complaint was filed by Advocate Susheel Manchekar against Sadavarte stating that he is seen wearing his advocateโs band during television debates, public events and agitations in violations of the ethics code.
The BCMG, on February 7, issued a notice to Sadavarte.
During the hearing on Tuesday, BCMGโs counsel Milind Sathe informed the court that the Bar Council would be pursuing the complaint.
As per an earlier HC direction, another complaint against Sadavarte was dismissed by the BCMG.
๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ'๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐
Advocate Subhash Jha for Sadavarte submitted that the complaint has been filed by someone who has nothing to do with him. The court was irked after Jha made allegations against Bar Council members and sought time citing some technical error.
The judges said they will not take over the jurisdiction of the Bar Council Committee merely because the petitioner believed it had political colour.
The high court admitted Sadavarteโs petition and expedited the matter.
