The Bar Council of Delhi on Wednesday suspended the licence of Advocate Manish Sharma, Senior Vice President of the Delhi Bar Association, Tis Hazari Courts, who was found involved in a firing incident at the court premises this afternoon.
Calling the behaviour of Sharma as ‘highly deplorable’ and ‘gross misconduct’ of rules, the Council suspended with immediate effect, Sharma’s licence to practise as an Advocate under Section Rule 42, Chapter-IV of the Bar Council of Delhi Rules.
Chairman of the Delhi Bar Council, K.K. Manan further called the Advocate to appear before the Council on July 7 and submit a written explanation regarding his conduct.
The Council warned him that if he failed to appear on July 7, an ex-parte action would be initiated against him in accordance with law.
Earlier in the day, a scuffle had broken out between two groups of lawyers, including office-bearers of the Tis Hazari Court, after which one of the Advocates fired nine rounds in the air.
According to Delhi Police, no one was injured in the incident, which took place near Western Wing Chamber 433/434 of the Tis Hazari Court, falling under the limits of Subzi Mandi Police Station, at around 1:35 pm.
Police further said that officials had reached the spot and the situation was under control.
It was learnt that Manish Sharma had a heated exchange of words with his Secretary Atul Sharma over the chamber and parking, which snowballed into a major argument and led to indiscriminate firing in the court premises.
Condemning the incident, Chairman of Bar Council of Delhi K.K. Manan said that he has ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident, in order to probe whether the weapons used during the incident were licensed or not.
Manan further said that even if the weapons were licensed, no lawyer or anyone else had the right to use them like this inside or around the court premises.