New Delhi (ILNS): A Mohali lawyer, who filed a petition asking for bail and for the quashing of an FIR on behalf of his client who is a permanent resident of Australia, has been fined Rs 2.5 lakh by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The fine is for ‘professional misconduct.’
The court found that Vikram Singh, the petitioner in a rape case, was not even in the country at the time of filing of the petition before the court. Yet an affidavit was filed on behalf of Singh.
Of the fine, Rs 1 lakh has to be deposited in the State High Court Advocates’ Welfare Fund within four weeks. The matter has now been listed for December 18.
During the hearing of the petition the court found that the accused, Vikram Singh, has filed a bail application and a petition for the quashing of the FIR registered against him.
While in the petition, Singh was shown as a permanent resident of Australia, the affidavit accompanying had been verified on July 15 in Shimla. Taking cognizance of the same, the court issued notice to the Mohali lawyer, Shimla’s permanent counsel and the oath Commissioner of Shimla, who verified the affidavit and sought their reply on the issue.
While reprimanding the advocate, the division bench of Justices Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Jyotsna Rewal Dua found the Mohali lawyer guilty in this case and ordered him to give Rs 50,000 to the oath Commissioner and Rs 1 lakh to the local lawyer.
The court decided that the Mohali lawyer betrayed not only the local lawyer but also the oath Commissioner and put their future in danger. The court expressed concern over the misconduct of the lawyer and said that while the petitioner Vikram Singh was not in the country at the time of filing the petition before this court, yet an affidavit was filed on behalf of Vikram Singh. The court observed that this was done by the advocate to get an unfair advantage from the court.
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