Supreme Court Expunges Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Adverse Remarks Against Advocate
The Apex Court accepted the Advocate’s submission that the omission on his part, which led to the remarks, was bona fide.
Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sandeep Mehta, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has ordered the expunction of adverse remarks made against an advocate by the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The Apex Court took note of the advocate’s submission that the omission on his part was bona fide.
The appeal before the Apex Court was filed by an Advocate seeking expunction of adverse observations made by the Madhya Pradesh High Court while deciding a writ petition.
The Division Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta stated, “Having considered the submissions advanced at bar and after going through the afore-quoted para of the impugned order rendered by the High Court, we feel that the adverse observations made against the Advocate (supra) could have been avoided in the facts and circumstances of the case. It is the specific case of the appellant herein that he was not an Advocate engaged in the case of Arushi Mahant (supra) and thus, the possibility of the fact regarding the decision rendered in Writ Petition No. 18699 of 2020 not having been challenged any further may have bona fide escaped the notice of the appellant.
Factual Background
The Division Bench of the High Court, while dealing with the Writ Petition in question, made certain observations against the advocate. The Division Bench stated that the appellant advocate while relying upon the decision of the Apex Court in the case of Index Medical College Hospital & Research Centre (supra) failed to disclose that there was no challenge made to the Coordinate Bench decision dated December 15, 2020 rendered in Writ Petition No. 18699/2020 whereby the constitutional validity of amended Rule 6 of the Rules of 2018 was upheld. The impression given to the Court by the Counsel was that the December 15 judgment was overturned by the Apex Court.
The Division Bench was of the view that the counsel ought to have informed the Court in the very beginning before relying upon the decision of the Apex Court in Index Medical College Hospital & Research Centre(Supra). The Division Bench thus recorded its displeasure about the conduct of counsel.
Arguments
The appellant tendered an unconditional apology for the mistake, if any, committed while presenting and arguing the writ petition before the High Court. It was the appellant’s case that he was not engaged or involved as a counsel in the connected Writ Petition No. 18699 of 2020 in relation to which adverse observations were made, and thus, the omission on his part was bona fide.
Reasoning
The Bench took note of the appellant’s submission that he was not an Advocate engaged in the case of Arushi Mahant (supra) and thus, the possibility of the fact regarding the decision rendered in Writ Petition No. 18699 of 2020 not having been challenged any further may have bona fide escaped the notice of the appellant.
“In this backdrop, we are of the opinion that the adverse observations supra made in Para 7 of the impugned order deserve to be and are hereby expunged so far as they relate to the appellant”, it ordered.
The Bench disposed of the Petition by quashing the order passed by the High Court, dismissing the application filed by the appellant, seeking modification of the final order to the extent it recorded adverse remarks in respect of his conduct.
Cause Title: Siddharth v. State of Madhya Pradesh (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 1082)