2001 Supreme(SC) 1396

2001(4) Supreme 386
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(From Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India, New Delhi)
K.T. Thomas & S.N. Variava, JJ.
Pravin C. Shah -Appellant
versus
K.A. Mohd. Ali & Anr. -Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 3050 of 2000
Decided on 9-10-2001
Counsel for the Parties :
To Assist the Court : Dushyant A. Dave, Sr. Advocate (A.C.), Siddhartha Dave and Haris Beeran, Advocates.
For the Appellant : M.K.S. Menon & A. Raghunath, Advocates.
For the Respondent No. 1 : E.M.S. Aham, Advocate.
For the Respondent No. 2 : Ramesh Babu M.R., Advocate.

VERY IMPORTANT POINT
When an advocate has been punished for contempt of court, he cannot appear thereafter as a counsel in the courts, unless he purges himself of such contempt as indicated in this judgment.

Headnote:Advocates Act, 1961-Section 34(1)-Rules framed by High Court of Kerala under regarding conditions and practice of Advocates-Rule 11 -Advocate found guilty of contempt of Court cannot practice unless he has purged himself of contempt-Scope-Advocate found guilty of contempt-State Bar Council debarred him from practice-In appeal to Bar Council of India, this order was set aside-Appeal to Supreme Court-Whether Bar Council of India was right in its approach? (No)-Appeal allowed accordingly-(Constitution of India-Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21-Contempt of Courts Act, 1971-Civil contempt and criminal contempt) How can a contemner purge himself of the contempt- Explained-Direction for future course given-Case law referred.

       Held (Referring to Rule 11) : The above rule shows that it was not necessary for the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council to impose the said interdict as a punishment for misconduct. Even if the Bar Council had not passed proceedings (which the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India has since set aside as per the impugned order) the delinquent advocate would have been under the disability contained in Rule 11 quoted above. It is a self-operating rule for which only one stipulation need be satisfied i.e. the advocate concerned should have been found guilty of contempt of court. The termini of the period of operation of the interdict is indicated by the next stipulation i.e. the contemnor purges himself of the contempt. The inhibition will therefore start operating when the first stipulation is satisfied, and it would continue to function until the second stipulation is fulfilled. The latter condition would remain eluded until the delinquent advocate himself initiates steps towards that end. Regarding the first condition there is no difficulty whatsoever in the present case because it is an admitted fact that respondent-advocate has been found guilty of contempt of court by the High Court of Kerala in two cases successively. For the operation of the interdict contained in Rule 11 it is not even necessary that the advocate should have been sentenced to any punishment after finding him guilty. The difficulty arises in respect of the second condition mentioned above. (Paras 8 & 9)

       Held further : Rule 11 of the Rules is not a provision intended for the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of the State or the Bar Council of India. It is a matter entirely concerning the dignity and the orderly functioning of the courts. The right of the advocate to practise envelops a lot of acts to be performed by him in discharge of his professional duties. Apart from appearing in the courts he can be consulted by his clients, he can give his legal opinion whenever sought for, he can draft instruments, pleadings, affidavits or any other documents, he can participate in any conference involving legal discussions etc. Rule 11 has nothing to do with all the acts done by an advocate during his practice except his performance inside the court. Conduct in court is a matter concerning the court and hence the Bar Council cannot claim that what should happen inside the court could also be regulated by Bar Council in exercise of its disciplinary powers. The right to practise, no doubt, is the genus of which the right to appear and conduct cases in the court may be a specie. But the right to appear and conduct cases in the court is a matter on which the court must have the major supervisory power. Hence the court cannot be divested of the control or supervision of the court merely because it may involve the right of an advocate. When the rules stipulate that a person who committed contempt of court cannot have the unreserved right to continue to appear and plead and conduct cases in the courts without any qualm or remorse, the Bar Council cannot overrule such a regulation concerning the orderly conduct of court proceedings. Courts of law are structured in such a design as to evoke respect and reverence to the majesty of law and justice. The machinery for dispensation of justice according to law is operated by the court. Proceedings inside the courts are always expected to be held in a dignified and orderly manner. The very sight of an advocate, who was found guilty of contempt of court on the previous hour, standing in the court and arguing a case or cross-examining a witness on the same day, unaffected by the contemptuous behaviour he hurled at the court, would erode the dignity of the court and even corrode the majesty of it besides impairing the confidence of the public in the efficacy of the institution of the courts. This necessitates vesting of power with the High Court to formulate rules for regulating the proceedings inside the court including the conduct of advocates during such proceedings. That power should not be confused with the right to practise law. While the Bar Council can exercise control over the latter, the High Court should be in control of the former. (Paras 16 & 17)

       After referring case law held : We have already pointed out that Rule 11 of the Rules is a self-operating provision. When the first postulate of it is completed (that the advocate has been found guilty of contempt of court) his authority to act or plead in any court stands snapped, though perhaps for the time being. If he does such things without the express permission of the court he would again be guilty of contempt of court besides such act being a misconduct falling within the purview of Section 34 of the Advocates Act. The interdict as against him from appearing in court as a counsel would continue until such time as he purges himself of the contempt. Now we have to consider the crucial question - How can a contemnor purge himself of the contempt? According to the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India, purging oneself of contempt can be done by apologising to the court. (Paras 22 & 23)

       Purging is a process by which an undesirable element is expelled either from one s own self or from a society. It is a cleansing process. Purge is a word which acquired implications first in theological connotations. In the case of a sin, purging of such sin is made through the expression of sincere remorse coupled with doing the penance required. In the case of a guilt, purging means to get himself cleared of the guilt. The concept of purgatory was evolved from the word purge , which is a state of suffering after this life in which those souls, who depart this life with their deadly sins, are purified and render fit to enter into heaven where nothing defiled enters. (vide Words and Phrases, Permanent Edn., Vol. 35A, page 307) . In Black s Law Dictionary the word purge is given the following meaning: "To cleanse; to clear or exonerate from some charge or imputation of guilt, or from a contempt." It is preposterous to suggest that if the convicted person undergoes punishment or if he tenders the fine amount imposed on him the purge would be completed. (Para 24)

       Held also : Obeying the orders of the court would be a mode by which one can make the purging process in a substantial manner when it is a civil contempt. Even for such a civil contempt the purging process would not be treated as completed merely by the contemnor undergoing the penalty imposed on him unless he has obeyed the order of the court or he has undone the wrong. If that is the position in regard to civil contempt the position regarding criminal contempt must be stronger. Section 2 of the Contempt of Courts Act categorises contempt of court into two categories. The first category is "civil contempt " which is the wilful disobedience of the order of the court including breach of an undertaking given to the court. But "criminal contempt" includes doing any act whatsoever which tends to scandalise or lowers the authority of any court, or tends to interfere with the due course of a judicial proceeding or interferes with, or obstructs the administration of justice in any other manner. We cannot therefore approve the view that merely undergoing the penalty imposed on a contemnor is sufficient to complete the process of purging himself of the contempt, particularly in a case where the contemnor is convicted of criminal contempt. The danger in giving accord to the said view of the learned single Judge in the afore-cited decision is that if a contemnor is sentenced to a fine he can immediately pay it and continue to commit contempt in the same court, and then again pay the fine and persist with his contemptuous conduct. There must be something more to be done to get oneself purged of the contempt when it is a case of criminal contempt. The Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council of India highlighted the absence of any mode of purging oneself of the guilt in any of the Rules as a reason for not following the interdict contained in Rule 11. Merely because the Rules did not prescribe the mode of purging oneself of the guilt it does not mean that one cannot purge the guilt at all. The first thing to be done in that direction when a contemnor is found guilty of a criminal contempt is to implant or infuse in his own mind real remorse about his conduct which the court found to have amounted to contempt of court. Next step is to seek pardon from the court concerned for what he did on the ground that he really and genuinely repented and that he has resolved not to commit any such act in future. It is not enough that he tenders an apology. The apology tendered should impress the court to be genuine and sincere. If the court, on being impressed of his genuineness, accepts the apology then it could be said that the contemnor has purged himself of the guilt. (Paras 26, 27 & 28)

       Held consequently : Thus a mere statement made by a contemnor before court that he apologises is hardly enough to amount to purging himself of the contempt. The court must be satisfied of the genuineness of the apology. If the court is so satisfied and on its basis accepts the apology as genuine the court has to make an order holding that the contemnor has purged himself of the contempt. Till such an order is passed by the court the delinquent advocate would continue to be under the spell of the interdict contained in Rule 11 of the Rules. (Para 31)

       Held in addition, Shri Sadrul Anam, learned counsel for the respondent-advocate submitted first, that the respondent has in fact apologised before this Court through the counsel engaged by him, and second is that when this Court observed that "this course should set everything at rest" it should be treated as the acknowledgement made by this Court that the contemnor has purged himself of the guilt. We are unable to accept either of the said contentions. The observation that "this course should set everything at rest" in the judgment of this Court cannot be treated as anything beyond the scope of the plea made by the respondent in that case. That apart, this Court was certainly disinclined to accept the apology so tendered in this Court which is clearly manifested from the outright repudiation of that apology when this Court said thus:

       "We regretfully will not be able to accept his apology at this belated juncture, but would rather admonish the appellant for his conduct under our plenary powers under the Constitution, which we do hereby."

       The respondent-advocate continued to appear in all the courts where he was earlier appearing even after he was convicted by the High Court for criminal contempt without being objected by any court. This is obviously on account of the fact that presiding officers of the court were not informed of what happened. We, therefore, direct that in future, whenever an advocate is convicted by the High Court for contempt of court, the Registrar of that High Court shall intimate the fact to all the courts within the jurisdiction of that High Court so that presiding officers of all courts would get the information that the particular advocate is under the spell of the interdict contained in Rule 11 of the Rules until he purges himself of the contempt. It is still open to the respondent-advocate to purge himself of the contempt in the manner indicated above. But until that process is completed respondent-advocate cannot act or plead in any court situated within the domain of the Kerala High Court, including the subordinate courts thereunder. The Registrar of the High Court of Kerala shall intimate all the courts about this interdict as against the respondent-advocate. This appeal is disposed of accordingly. (Paras 32 to 36)