Professional Ethics and Professional Acc
Professional Ethics and Professional Acc
Professional Ethics and Professional Acc
CONTEXT
TOPIC Page No.
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The term legal profession includes all those categories of persons who use technical, legal
knowledge and skills in the course of performing there occupational role and duties.
Ancient India :
The profession of law has been recognized as a profession of high calling and the noblest order from
the time of immortal.
1. In ancient India law was understood as a part of DARMA.
2. In the two epics RAMAYANA and MAHABHARATHA contains the legal processes in ancient India.
3. Vedas are the original source of law.
4. Smurtis are the legal base.
5. Kautilya’s Arthasastra and Chalukya’s separate law system remembers the ancient legal system in
India.
Medieval era :
British regime :
1. British established the first British court at Bombay in 1672 by the governor general Aungier.
2. For making their administration Strong, they established Supreme court at Calcutta in 1773 and
appointed many advocates.
3. They passed many acts as follows :
Charter act 1762
Charter act 1774
Legal practitioner act 1846
Legal practitioner act 1853
Legal practitioner act 1863
Legal practitioner act 1879
Indian BAR Council act 1926.
After Independence :
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V. ELEMENTS OF ADVOCACY
c) Pleading
The fundamental principles of pleading are four:
d) Examination-in-Chief
Examination-in-chief is the way in which advocates present almost all of the evidence through witnesses,
whether as counsel for plaintiff or defendant. Examination of expert witnesses and the admission of
expert opinions are also vital part of advocacy for which special skill is to be achieved according to the
expert evidence.
e) Cross-examination
The examination of a witness by the adverse party shall be called his cross examination. Witnesses shall
be first examined-in-chief then cross-examined, later re-examined. The witness may be cross-examined
to show his bias or prejudice, to show an interest in the outcome of the case.
f) Re-examination
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The examination of a witness subsequent to the cross-examination by the party who called him is called
re-examination.
g) Arguments
In arguing a case strongest points should be emphasised and the weak points should not be raised as far
as possible. Arguments on each issue should be written out.
h) Appeals
Arguing of appeals in a Court of Law is also of considerable importance. In the judgment, the Judge will
have some reasonable ground. A careful study of the case is required to find the points which were not
noticed by the Court.
Legal profession is regarded to be a noble one. A good advocate should possess some essential
qualities and equipment. Judge Abbot parry in his book “The Seven Lamps of Advocacy” called these
important characteristics of advocacy as “seven lamps of advocacy” and listed them as honesty,
courage, industry, wit, eloquence, judgment and fellowship.
1) Honesty
Honesty means the quality of straightforwardness; freedom from deceit, cheating or stealing and not
telling lies. The best advocates of all generations have been devotees of honesty. Example for honest
character is Abraham Lincoln, who founded his fame and success on what some called ‘preserve
honesty’. The nobleness of legal profession lies in honesty itself.
2) Courage
Courage is the quality that enables a person to control fear in the face of danger, pain, misfortune, etc.;
an advocate must possess courage. He should face the pressures from outside with courage
3) Industry
Advocacy is needed a life of industry. An advocate must study his brief in the same way that an actor
studies his part. Success in advocacy is not arrived at by intuition but through industry. Industry is the
quality of being hard-working; being always employed usefully.
4) Wit
Wit means clever and humorous expression of ideas; liveliness of spirit. Wit flows from intelligence;
5) Eloquence
The success of an advocate depends upon his eloquence. Eloquence means fluent speaking and skilful
use of language to persuade or to appeal to the feelings of others. Fluent speaking impresses the listener
6) Judgment
Judgment is an intellectual capacity, ‘the inspiration which enables a man to translate good sense into
right action’. In judgment one has to estimate, consider and form an opinion about the issues with good
sense and ability.
7) Fellowship
Fellowship means the membership in friendly association or companionship. Fellowship is exactly like
great public schools, the boys of which have grown older, and have exchanged boyish for manly objects.
Though the advocates are opponent parties before the bench but not enemies with each other.
(7+1) Tact K.V.Krishnaswamy Aiyer, in his book “Professional Conduct and Advocacy” adds one more
lamp i.e. tact. Tact means handling people and situations skilfully and without causing offence. An
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advocate must be in a position to tackle and win his client, opponent party, opponent advocate in a
smoother way.
(1) There shall be a Bar Council for each of to be known as the Bar Council of that
State;
(a) in the case of the State Bar Council of Delhi, the Additional Solicitor General of India ex
officio in the case of the other State Bar Council ex officio; in the case of the State Bar
Council of Punjab and Haryana, the Advocate-General of each of the State of Punjab and
Haryana, ex-officio; and in the case of any other State Bar Council, the Advocate-General
of the State, ex officio;
(1) There shall be a Bar Council for the territories to which this Act extends to be known
as the Bar Council of India which shall consist of the following members, namely:—
(1A) No person shall be eligible for being elected as a member of the Bar Council of India
unless he possesses the qualifications specified
Sec 6
(2) There shall be a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council of India elected by
the Council in such manner as may be prescribed.
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(1) Where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise a State Bar Council has reason to
believe that any advocate on its roll has been guilty of professional or other
misconduct, it shall refer the case for disposal to its disciplinary committee.
(1A) The State Bar Council may, either of its own motion or on application made to it by
any person interested, withdraw a proceeding pending before its disciplinary committee
and direct the inquiry to be made by any other disciplinary committee of that State Bar
Council.
(2) The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council shall fix a date for the hearing of
the case and shall cause a notice thereof to be given to the advocate concerned
and to the Advocate-General of the State.
(3) The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council after giving the advocate
concerned and the Advocate-General an opportunity of being heard, may make any
of the following orders, namely:—
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(a) dismiss the complaint or, where the proceedings were initiated at the instance of the
State Bar Council, direct that the proceedings be filed;
(b) reprimand the advocate;
(c) suspend the advocate from practice for such period as it may deem fit;
(d) remove the name of the advocate from the State roll of advocates.
(4) Where an advocate is suspended from practice under clause (c) of sub-section (3),
he shall, during the period of suspension, be debarred from practicing in any court
or before any authority or person in India.
(5) Where any notice is issued to the Advocate-General undersub-section (2), the
Advocate-General may appear before the disciplinary committee of the State Bar
Council either in person or through any advocate appearing on his behalf.
3. Right to fee
4. Right to lien – once vakalath is filed no other can step inside the case.
5. Privilege of public and political life.
6. Right to have access to Judge- any time any day.
7. Privilege of independence- not a servant to any one
8. Words spoken in professional capacity are privileged.
9. Privilege to honor the judgment in Bar Council
10. Privilege of being offered judgeship and several other offices under the status.
As a district judge.
Magistrate.
Additional session judge
Additional judge
Session judge.
DISABILITIES OF ADVOCATES :
1. Advertising oneself and soliciting the client.
2. Restriction on taking up a brief.
3. Restriction on other employment.
4. Advocate must not divulge clients communication.
5. Advocate cannot buy or contract any share of interest in a actionable claims- sec 136 of TP act.
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RIGHT TO PRACTICE
Sec 29. Advocates to be the only recognised class of personsentitled to practise law.—
Subject to the provisions of this Act and any rules made there under, there shall, as from the
appointed day, be only one class of persons entitled to practice the profession of law, namely,
advocates.
XIII. Application once refused not to be entertained by another Bar Council except in certain
circumstances
Sec 27. Application once refused not to be entertained by another Bar Council except in certain
circumstances.—
Where State Bar Council has refused the application of any person for admission as an advocate on its
roll, no other State Bar Council shall entertain an application for admission of such person as an advocate
on its roll, except with the previous consent in writing of the State Bar Council which refused the application
and of the Bar Council of India.
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CONTEXT
TOPIC Page No.
I. DUTIES OF AN ADOVOCATE 11
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UNIT II
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS.
I. DUTIES OF AN ADVOCATE.
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(1) Where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise the Bar Council of India shall refer the case for
disposal to its disciplinary committee.
(2) Disposal of disciplinary proceedings.—The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council shall
dispose of the complaint received by it under section 35 expeditiously and in each case the
proceedings shall be concluded within a period of one year from the date of the receipt of the
complaint or the date of initiation.
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(3) Appeal to the Bar Council of India.— Any person aggrieved by an order of the disciplinary
committee of a State Bar Council made or the Advocate General of the State may, within sixty days
of the date of the communication of the order to him, prefer an appeal to the Bar Council of India.
(4) Appeal to the Supreme Court.—Any person aggrieved by an order made by the disciplinary
committee of the Bar Council of India may within sixty days of the date on which the order is
communicated to him, prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court.
(5) Stay of order.— An appeal, made shall not operate as a stay of the order appealed against, but
the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of India, or the Supreme Court, as the case may be,
may, from sufficient cause, direct the stay of such order on such terms and conditions as it may
deem fit.
(6) Alteration in roll of Advocates.—Where an order is made under this Chapter reprimanding or
suspending an advocate, a record of the punishment shall be entered against his name
The disciplinary committee of a Bar Council shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court
under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the following matters, namely:—
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
(b) requiring discovery and production of any documents;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisitioning any public record or copies thereof from any court or office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witness or documents;
(f) any other matter which may be prescribed: Provided that no such disciplinary committee shall have the
right to require the attendance of—
(a) any presiding officer of a Court except with the previous sanction of the High Court to which such court
is subordinate;
(b) any officer of a revenue court except with the previous sanction of the State Government.
(8) Review of orders by disciplinary committee.— The disciplinary committee of a Bar Council may
of its own motion or otherwise review any order 1[within sixty days of the date of that order passed.
(1) There shall be two classes of advocates, namely, senior advocates and other advocates.
(2) An advocate may, with his consent, be designated as senior advocate if the Supreme Court or a
High Court is of opinion that by virtue of his ability standing at the Bar or special knowledge or
experience in law he is deserving of such distinction.
(3) Senior advocates shall, in the matter of their practice, be subject to such restrictions as the Bar
Council of India may, in the interest of the legal profession, prescribe.
(4) An advocate of the Supreme Court who was a senior advocate of that Court immediately before
the appointed day shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a senior advocate:
RESTRICTION ON SENIORITY :
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Senior Advocates shall, in the matter of their practice of the profession of law mentioned in Section
30 of the Act, be subject to the following restrictions:
(a) A Senior Advocate shall not file a vakalatnama or act in any Court, or Tribunal, or before any
person or other authority mentioned in Section 30 of the Act.
(b) (i) A senior Advocate shall not appear without an Advocate on Record in the Supreme Court
or without an Advocate in Part II of the State Roll in any court, or tribunal, or before any person
or other authorities mentioned in Section 30 of the Act.
(ii) Where a Senior Advocate has been engaged prior to the coming into force of the Rule in
this Chapter, he shall not continue thereafter unless an Advocate in Part II of the State Roll is
engaged along with him.
(c) He shall not accept instructions to draft pleading or affidavits, advice on evidence or to do any
drafting work of an analogous kind in any Court or Tribunal, or before any person or other
authority
(cc) A Senior Advocate shall, however, be free to make concessions or give undertakings in the
course of arguments on behalf of his clients on instructions from the junior Advocate.
(d) He shall not accept directly from a client any brief or instructions to appear in any Court or
Tribunal, of before any person or other authority in India.
(e) A Senior Advocate who had acted as an Advocate (Junior) in a case, shall not after he has
been designated as a Senior Advocate advise on grounds of
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, and the rules made there under, a person shall be qualified to
be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if he fulfills the following conditions, namely:—
(a) he is a citizen of India: Provided that subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, a national
of any other country may be admitted as an advocate on a State roll, if citizens of India, duly qualified,
are permitted to practise law in that other country;
(f) he fulfils such other conditions as may be specified in the rules made by the State Bar Council
under this Chapter;
(g) he has paid, in respect of the enrolment, stamp duty, if any, chargeable under the Indian Stamp
Act, 1899 (2 of 1899), and an enrolment fee payable to the State Bar Council of six hundred rupees
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and to the Bar Council of India, one hundred and fifty rupees by way of a bank draft drawn in favour
of that Council
A State Bar Council may remove from the State roll the name of any advocate who is dead or from whom
a request has been received to that effect.
An advocate shall not personally engage in any business; but he may be a sleeping partner in a
firm doing business provided that in the opinion of the appropriate State Bar Council, the nature of
the business is not inconsistent with the dignity of the profession.
An advocate may be Director or Chairman of the Board of Directors of a Company with or without
any ordinarily sitting fee, provided none of his duties are of an executive character. An advocate
shall not be a Managing Director or a Secretary of any Company.
An advocate shall not be a full-time salaried employee of any person, government, firm, corporation
or concern, so long as he continues to practise, and shall, on taking up any such employment,
intimate the fact to the Bar Council on whose roll his name appears and shall thereupon cease to
practise as an advocate so long as he continues in such employment.
An advocate who has inherited, or succeeded by survivorship to a family business may continue it,
but may not personally participate in the management thereof. He may continue to hold a share
with others in any business which has decended to him by survivorship or inheritance or by will,
provided he does not personally participate in the management thereof.
An advocate may review Parliamentary Bills for a remuneration, edit legal text books at a salary,
do press-vetting for newspapers, coach pupils for legal examination, set and examine question
papers; and subject to the rules against advertising and full-time employment, engage in
broadcasting, journalism, lecturing and teaching subjects, both legal and non-legal.
Nothing in these rules shall prevent an advocate from accepting after obtaining the consent of the
State Bar Council, part-time employment provided that in the opinion of the State Bar Council, the
nature of the employment does not conflict with his professional work and is not inconsistent with
the dignity of the profession. This rule shall be subject to such directives if any as may be issued
by the Bar Council India from time to time.
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(2) An advocate's fee shall be reasonable and may be established either by the advocate himself or
by agreement between the advocate and the client. The factors to be considered in determining
the reasonableness of a fee (whether agreed or otherwise) include the following:
a. the time required, the novelty and difficulty of the issues involved, and the dedication
requisite to perform the legal service properly;
b. the responsibility undertaken, with particular reference to the amount involved;
c. the time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances;
d. the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client;
e. the experience, reputation and ability of the advocate performing the services;
f. in litigation matters, the fees recoverable from the other party;
g. the likelihood that the acceptance of the particular brief will preclude the acceptance of other
briefs by the advocate.
(3) An advocate shall not, either directly or indirectly, enter into any agreement or stipulation qualities.
(4) An advocate shall not share or agree to share his of her professional fees with any person except:
a. a practicing advocate;
b. a retired partner or predecessor of the advocate or the dependents of Personal
representatives of a deceased partner or predecessor.
(5) An advocate shall not enter into any professional partnership or other professional arrangement,
other than arrangements specifically allowed by aw, with any person other than an advocate.
(6) Advocates shall not by themselves or with any other person set up, operate, actively participate in
or control any business, which offers any of the following services:
a. advocacy before any court, tribunal or inquiry;
b. acting as executor;
c. drafting any contract, including the memorandum and articles of association f companies;
d. drafting any will;
e. giving legal advice;
f. drafting legal documents other than those comprised in the above paragraphs;
(7)
g) any other activity reserved to advocates by law or usually performed by advocates.
(8) An advocate should normally render a bill of costs to a client within a reasonable time of concluding
the matter to which the bill relates.
(9) An advocate's bill of costs should contain sufficient information to identify the matter to which it
relates and when the services were rendered.
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(Rules under Section 15 (2) (l), (m) and (n) of the Act)
1. All SUM received on behalf of the Council shall be acknowledge by a receipt signed by the
Secretary or any other person authorised by the Executive Committee. Amounts received shall be
credited into the account of the Council in the Bank on the nest working day of the Bank.
2. The books of the account and registers shall be strongly bound and paged. On the 1st or title
page, the number of pages of the book or the register shall be entered and the entry shall be
signed by the Secretary. Corrections in the entries shall be made in red ink and attested by the
Accountant. Erasures shall on no account be permitted.
3. Receipt forms shall be 4. Payments of Rs. 50/- and over shall ordinarily be by cheque.
5. Salary bills shall be in such form as the Executive Committee may direct.
6. A bill presented for payment three months after the money becomes due shall not be paid
without the sanction of the Executive Committee.
7. The Executive Committee may fix the amount of a permanent advance to be made to the
Secretary and the Accountant as the case may be.
8. The Accountant shall maintain an acquittance register in the following from/or in such other form
as the auditor may direct :
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
8 9 10 11
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
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CONTEXT
TOPIC Page No.
I. DEFINITIONS 19
II. REMEDIES 19
V.
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2. DEFINITIONS.
(b) Civil contempt " means wilful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other
process of a
court or wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court ;
(c) Criminal contempt " means the publication (whether by words. spoken or written, or by signs, or
by visible representations, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever
which-
(i) Scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court ; or
(ii) Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or
(iii) Pnterferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of
justice in any other manner ;
(d) "High Court" means the High Court for a State or a Union territory, and includes the Court of the
Judicial
Commissioner in any Union territory.
Subject to the provisions contained in section 7, a person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for
publishing a fair and accurate report of a judicial proceeding or any stage thereof.
A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for publishing any fair comment on the merits of any
case which has been heard and finally decided
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A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court in respect of any statement made by him in good
faith concerning the presiding officer of any subordinate court to-
(a) Any other subordinate court, or
(b) The High Court, to which it is subordinate.
7.
PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO PROCEEDINGS IN CHAMBERS OR IN
CAMERA NOT CONTEMPT EXCEPT IN CERTAIN CASES.
(1) A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for publishing a fair and a accurate report of
a judicial proceeding before any court sitting in chambers or in camera except in the following
cases, that is to say,-
(a) Where the publication is contrary to the provisions of any enactment for the time being in force;
(b) Where the court, on grounds of public policy or expressly prohibits the publication of all
information relating to the Proceeding.
(c) Where the court refuses for reasons connected with the security of the State
(d) Where the information relates to a secret process, discovery or invention.
8.
OTHER DEFENCES NOT AFFECTED
Act shall be construed as implying that any other defence which would have been a valid defence in
any proceedings for contempt of court.
Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed as implying that any disobedience, breach,
publication or other act is punishable as contempt of court which would not be so punishable apart
from this Act.
Every High Court shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, powers and authority, in accordance
with the same procedure and practice, in respect of contempts.
Provided that no High Court shall take cognizance of a contempt alleged to have been committed in
respect of a court subordinate to it where such contempt is an offence punishable under the Indian
Penal Code.(45 of 1860)
(1) A contempt of court may be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to
six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both. :
Provided that the accused may be discharged or the punishment awarded may be
remitted on apology being made to the satisfaction of the court.
(2) No court shall impose a sentence in excess of that specified in sub-section (1) for any contempt
either in respect of itself or of a court subordinate to it.
(3) A person is found guilty of a civil contempt, the court, if it considers that a fine Will not meet the
ends of justice and that a sentence of imprisonment is necessary shall, instead of sentencing him
to simple imprisonment, direct that he be detained in a civil prison for such period not exceeding
six months as it may think fit.
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(4) Where guilty of contempt of is a company, every person who, at the time the contempt was
committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business
of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the contempt and the
punishment may be enforced, with the leave of the court, by the detention in civil prison of each
such person:
(5) Where the contempt of court has been committed by a company and it is proved that the
contempt has been committed with any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or
other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed
to be guilty of the contempt and the punishment may be enforced with the leave of the court, by the
detention in civil prison of such director, manager, secretary or other officer.
14. PROCEDURE WHERE CONTEMPT IS IN THE FACE OF THE SUPREME COURT OR A HIGH
COURT.
(1) When it is alleged, or appears to the Supreme Court or the High Court than its own view, that
a person has been guilty of contempt committed in its presence or hearing, the Court may
cause such person to be detained in custody, and, at any time before the rising of the Court,
on the same day, or as early as possible thereafter, shall-
(a) cause him to be informed in writing of the contempt with which he is charged ;
(c) after taking such evidence as may be necessary or as may be offered by such person and after
hearing him, proceed, either forthwith or after adjournment, to determine the matter of the
charge ; and
(d) make such order for the punishment or discharge of such person as may be just.
(1) A judge, magistrate or other person acting judicially shall also be liable for contempt of his own
court or of any other court in the same manner as any other individual is liable and the provisions of
this Act
(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to any observations or remarks made by a judge, magistrate
or other person acting judicially, regarding a subordinate court in an appeal or revision pending before
such judge, magistrate or other person against the order or judgment of the subordinate court.
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(1) Every case of criminal contempt under section 15 shall be heard and determined by a Bench of
not less than two Judges.
(2) Sub-section (1) shall not apply to the Court of a Judicial Commissioner.
19.
APPEALS.
(1) An appeal shall lie as of right from any order or decision of High Court in the exercise of its
jurisdiction to punish for contempt-
(a) Where the order or decision is that of a single Judge, to a Bench of not less than two Judges of
the Court;
(b) Where the order or decision is that of a Bench, to the Supreme Court:
(2) Pending any appeal, the appellate court may order that-
(a) The execution of the punishment or order appealed against be suspended;
(b) If the appellant is in confinement, he be released on bail and
(c) the appeal be heard notwithstanding that the appellant has not purged his contempt.
(3) Where any person aggrieved by any order against which an appeal may be filed satisfies the
High Court that he intends to prefer an appeal, the High Court may also exercise all or any of the
powers conferred by sub-section (2).
CASE LAWS:
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On the day of final hearing before the high court, the respondent offered the unconditional
apology and prayed for “warning only” as punishment by the court.
However the court took a serious view of misconduct by the advocate and hence suspended him
for 1 year and gives him a certificate of fitness for appeal to the Supreme Court.
The advocate failed a special leave petition in the Supreme court against the order of high court.
The supreme court dismissed the petition and confirmed the punishment given by high court is
legal and valid.
An advocate misappropriated the clients money and he was charged under the professional
misconduct by the disciplinary committee of the bar council.
The disciplinary committee further proceeded against him in the high court under the section 10 of
the bar council act.
The advocate challenged the proceedings in the supreme court and contended that high court have
no right to do so.
Sec 10 (2) of the bar council act reads that “Upon the receipt by the compliant made it by any court
or any bar council, or by any other person that any advocate has been guilty of misconduct, then the
high court shall refer the case to the Bar council or the judge of district court or on its own motion can
inquire”.
The supreme court held that the advocate was guilty of his misconduct and the high court was fully
justified in the proceedings against the advocate under the sec 10 (2).
An advocate demanded a certain sum of money from his client saying that the amount has to be
deposited in the court for his client’s legal case. But he had misappropriated the money and used by
himself.
The clients failed a complaint against advocate before the bar council of the Maharastra.
The disciplinary committee charged the advocate, conducted an inquiry and found the advocate
guilty.
The disciplinary committee had suspended him from the practice for a specific period.
The advocate preferred an appeal in the supreme court , the same was rejected and said the order
given by the disciplinary committee is valid and legal.
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He further submitted the appeal to the Supreme Court on the grounds of hungry and survival. The
supreme court also dismissed the case saying that lowering the dignity of a profession is not the way
of satisfying the hunger and confirmed the punishment of three year suspension.
An advocate received a money suite from brief his client who is 70 year old deaf man and his 67 years
old wife for the suit that the money advanced by the client under two promissory notes were not repaid
by the debtor.
The client handed over the case before the expiry of the limitation period to the advocate. They also
paid the fee as fully demaded by an advocate.
The advocate failed to file the suite with in the limitation period and even after the considerable time.
When the client came to know the fact, they failed the suite before the disciplinary committee of the
Tamilnadu state bar council.
The disciplinary committee failed a charge-sheet, inquiry and found guilty. He was suspended for the
period of six years.
He failed an appeal to the bar council of India. But the Bar council of India upheld the order of state
bar council.
Further failed an appeal in the Supreme Court. As it was serious misconduct on the part of advocate
to cheat the aged people and punished his by suspending from the practice for the six years.
An advocate under took a assault case promising his client that he will get a medical certificate converting
the grievous injuries as a simple injuries so that, his client can escape with the simple injuries.
He bribed the radiologist and got the certificate saying there is no facture to the skull and thus created
the false evidence to save his client.
The case was failed before the bar council of Rajasthan. The disciplinary committee charged a charge-
sheet, conducted an inquiry.
The advocate found guilty and he was suspended for three years from the practice as a punishment.
The appeal suited by him in the supreme court and the supreme court confirmed the order of Bar council,
but reduced the punishment to one year as he is a junior practitioner without much experience.
The respondent 1, who is a senior advocate entrusted the same for his junior advocate to fail and look
after the case.
After some time the suite was withdrawn saying the matter settled outside the court by the respondent
2 on the advice given by the respondent 1.
At the time of withdrawal the respondent was practicing on his own.
Now the compliant filed a suit before the bar council and stating the following:
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Here an advocate was found guilty of Criminal Contempt and hence the criminal court sentenced the
Advocate to an simple imprisonment of 6 Years and was suspended from practicing as an advocate
for the period of three years.
In the appeal to the high court the punishment was suspended for simple imprisonment of four years.
In the further appeal to the supreme court of India, it held the following :
a. Both the High court and the supreme court, in the exercise of the contempt jurisdiction, have
the authority to suspend or cancel the license of an advocate by removing his name from the
bar, hence the Supreme court of India held the decision passed by the High Court .
b. Hence this particular case highlighted by passing of Land mark judgment by clearly
mentioning that according to the Section 35 of the Advocates ac t the Supreme court is the
appellate authority and according to the Section 38 of the same act it has powers to cancel
or suspend the license of the advocate.
However it has concluded with that “it has an authority to suspend or cancel the license of an advocate
to practice his profession”.
However the case In Re Vinay Chandra Mishra , 1995 (Vol- I IBR 118) was over ruled in this
case.
In this case supreme court held that
1. It can neither create a jurisdiction nor create a punishment not otherwise permitted by law.
2. Since the power to punish the advocate for professional misconduct by suspending the
license vest exclusively in the statutory body constituted under the advocate act.
3. It is not permissible to the supreme court to take over the role of the bodies and other
organs of the state and perform their functions.
4. To conclude, the jurisdiction vest with the Bar council to punish the advocate for
professional misconduct by canceling the license of practice.
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Public interest litigation was filed challenging the right of a lawyer to go on strike or to give a call to
boycott the courts.
In deciding the case the supreme court observed the following :
1. Lawyers have no right to go on strike or give a call to boycott the court or not even a token
strike.
2. Courts not permit to strikes or boycott the courts.
3. No lawyer will cause any damage or harm, threat, coercion of any nature including that of
expulsion can be held out.
4. If a lawyer holding a vakalath of a client absents from attending the court due to strike call,
he is made responsible for the loss, damages occurred to his client.
5. It is a duty of all the court to go on with the matters with their boards even in the absence of
the lawyers.
6. The court under no obligations to adjourn the matter because of the lawyers on strike.
7. Only in the rarest of rare cases where the dignity, integrity, independence of the bar council
or the bench are at stake, the court may ignore the strike abstention from work for not more
than a day.
8. It is the court to decide whether or not the issue involves dignity, integrity, independence of
the bar council or the bench are at stake
9. Therefore the president of the Bar council, with the consultation with the chief justice shall
decide the issue involved.
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CONTEXT
TOPIC Page No.
III. JOURNAL 30
IV. LEDGER 31
V. CASH BOOKS 32
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Unit -V
Accountancy :
Need :
1. Serves as record.
2. To know the financial status.
3. To take decision.
4. To calculate the results.
5. To pay the taxes under the 145 of the income tax act 1961.
6. To know the dues and balances.
7. To gain excellent control over assets, expences, barrowings.
8. Recommended under the act.
Indian stamp act 1899
The registration act 1908
Court fee and suit valuation act.
Advocate fee rules.
Bookkeeping :
in the context of a business is simply the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include
purchases, sales, receipts and payments by an individual or organization.
Accounting process includes the bookkeeping function, but is just one part of the accounting process.
There are some common methods of bookkeeping such as the single-entry bookkeeping system and
the double-entry bookkeeping system.
IMPORTANCE :
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Under single entry book keeping system, only one aspect of a transaction is recorded, so it is
known as incomplete system of recording transactions. Under it only records of cash and personal
accounts are maintained. In it, accounts relating to debtors , creditors and cash are prepared. It
ignores all impersonal account like salaries, wages, sales, purchases,etc. It maintains a cash book
and personal accounts but does not record nominal and real accounts. It is not a reliable system but
it is still used by small organizations to keep the records of transactions.
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6.It helps to find the arithmetical accuracy of accounting records by preparing a trial balance.
1. Journal entry :
Journal :
The word journal is derived from a French word ‘jour’ which means a daily, day book or log
book. In this book, transactions are recorded in a chronological order i.e. in order of dates,
a. It provides a date wise record of all business transactions in a methodical order. So, there’s
less chance to leave the transaction unentered.
b. The use of journal ensures the observation of Double Entry system in the recording of
transactions.
c. The transactions recorded in the journals with details of the account debited and credited and
the amount of each transaction.
d. From journal adequate explanation of each entry may be obtained as every entry in journal is
supported by the narration relating to that transaction.
e. The use of journal simplifies ledger as details regarding the business transaction and are not
required to be noted down in the ledger.
f. From legal point of view, journal is more reliable evidence of business transactions than the
ledger.
* Ledger Folio: This column is meant to record the reference of the main Book*
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To Cash A/C 6)
JOURNALISING
(For salary is paid in Cash)
5) NARATION
2. Ledger :
c) The ledger information about a particular account is found at one place only.
e) A journal entry shows both the aspects debit as well as credit but each entry in the ledger
Dr. Cr.
20,000
3. Cash book:
c. Firstly, all cash transactions are recorded in the Cash Book wherefrom they are
d. All cash receipts are recorded on the debit side and all cash payments are recorded
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f. The Cash Book will always show a debit balance since payments cannot exceed the
Depending upon the nature of business and the type of cash transactions, various
b) Two Column Cash Book or Cash Book with cash and discount columns.
c) Three Columnar Cash Book or Cash Book with cash, bank and discount
columns.
d) ‘Bank’ Cash Book or Cash Book with bank and discount columns.
Is used when payments and receipts are mostly in the form of cash and where usually
Dr. Cr.
Date Particulars R.No . L.F Rs. Date Particulars V.No. . L.F Rs.
This type of Cash Book is used when cash transactions involving discount
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Dr. Cr.
Dr. Cr.
Date Particul R. .L Discount Cas Bank Dat Particul V.N . Discou Cas Bank
ar No .F allowed h Rs. e ar o. L. nt h Rs.
Rs. F receive Rs.
d
Dr. Cr.
Dat Particular R.N . Discoun Ban Dat Particular V.No . Discoun Ban
e s o L. t k e s . L. t k
F allowed Rs. F receive Rs.
d
The word ‘petty’ has its origin from the French word ‘petit’ which means
small.
The petty cash book is used to record items like carriage, cartage,
stationery, etc.
The person who maintains this book is called the ‘petty cahsier’.
The petty cash book is used by many business concerns to save the much
valuable time.
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4. Final accounts :
a. Trial balance :
Trial balance is a statement prepared with the balances or total of debits and credits of
all the accounts in the ledger to test the arithmetical accuracy of the ledger accounts.
According to M.S. Gosav “Trail balance is a statement containing the balances of all
ledger accounts, as at any given date, arranged in the form of debit and credit columns
placed side by side and prepared with the object of checking the arithmetical accuracy
of ledger postings”.
Features :
iv. Total of the debit and credit amount columns of the trail balance must tally.
v. It the debit and credit amounts are equal, we assume that ledger accounts are
arithmetically accurate.
ST’s Books
b. Trading account :
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Trading refers buying and selling of goods. Trading A/c shows the result of buying and
selling of goods. This account is prepared to find out the difference between the Selling
Dr Cr
Rs Rs Rs Rs
To Packing charges
To Power
XXXX XXXX
2. Gross Profit ratio to Sales could also be easily ascertained. It helps to determine Price.
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3. Gross Profit ratio to direct Expenses could also be easily ascertained. And so,
unnecessary expenses could be eliminated.
4. Comparison of trading account details with previous years details help to draw better
administrative policies.
Trading account reveals Gross Profit or Gross Loss. Gross Profit is transferred to credit side
of Profit and Loss A/c. Gross Loss is transferred to debit side of the Profit Loss Account.
Thus Profit and Loss A/c is commenced. This Profit & Loss A/c reveals Net Profit or Net loss
Profit & Loss Account for the year ended 31st March 2007
To Salaries By Commission
To Insurance By Discounts
To Repairs received
To Interest
To Bank charges
To Establishment
expenses
To Sunder expenses
To Commission
To Discount
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To Advertisement
To Carriage outwards
To Traveling
expenses
To Distribution
expenses
To Bad debt
provision
To Net Profit
(transferred to
Capital A/c)
d. Balance sheet :
3. It clearly indicates, whether the firm has sufficient assents to repay its liabilities.
5. It shows the profit or Loss arrived through Profit & Loss A/c.
The Word ‘Balance Sheet’ is defined as “a Statement which sets out the Assets and
Liabilities of a business firm and which serves to ascertain the financial position of the
same on any particular date.”
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