The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on issues related to disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana.
The petitioners, who are practicing lawyers, sought relief in the form of quashing of orders passed by the Bar Council and a direction to the Council not to proceed with the disciplinary proceedings.
The court, after considering the matter, held that the petitioners’ apprehension of bias against one of the members of the Disciplinary Committee, Harinder Pal Singh Ishar, was not entirely unfounded.
The court noted that Shri Ishar had proposed a compromise between the petitioners and the respondent, which could give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.
However, instead of passing a writ or direction to the Bar Council, the court refrained from doing so, citing the availability of an alternative remedy to the petitioners.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel observed that the petitioners could approach the Bar Council of India, which could assess the impact of the alleged bias on the impartiality of the Disciplinary Committee.
The court, while disposing of the petition, expressed hope that the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana would take remedial steps to address the petitioners’ concerns, without compelling them to approach the Bar Council of India.
The petition was disposed of with liberty granted to the petitioners to approach the court again, if necessary.
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