The Kerala High Court on Friday set aside the order of a single judge that had refused to interfere with the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Bar Council of Kerala (BCK) in 2023 against the incumbent President of the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA), Yeshwanth Shenoy. [Yeshwanth Shenoy v. The Bar Council of Kerala, Represented by the Hon. Secretary, Bar Council]
A Division Bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and Syam Kumar VM quashed the notice issued to Shenoy by BCK.
The BCK had initiated disciplinary action following a heated exchange of words between Shenoy and Justice Mary Joseph, then a judge of the High Court.
In an order passed on May 2, single-judge Justice TR Ravi had observed that the show cause notice issued to Shenoy by the Bar Council of Kerala was within its statutory power under Section 35 (punishment of advocates for misconduct) of the Advocates Act, 1961 (the Act).
However, the Division Bench today allowed Shenoy's appeal against the order of the single-judge and quashed the BCK notice.
After the incident in Justice Joseph's courtroom, Shenoy was sent a notice by BCK.
While the notice stated that the disciplinary action was initiated suo motu by BCK, Shenoy alleged that it was initiated based on a letter sent by Justice Joseph.
Shenoy challenged the proceedings in a writ petition and sought to quash the disciplinary proceedings on the ground that BCK had acted without jurisdiction and had relied on unverified media reports.
In his petition, Shenoy also claimed that details of a contempt case initiated against him were leaked to the media even before official service.
However, the single-judge dismissed Shenoy's petition holding that the legality of the disciplinary process could not be questioned at the threshold unless there was a clear violation of statutory procedure or principles of natural justice. In this case, the single-judge failed to find any such violation.
The judge also declined to issue directions regarding the alleged leak or access to video recordings, stating that such matters were better left to be handled administratively or through appropriate legal channels.
Shenoy then filed the present appeal challenging the single-judge's order.
The division bench today set aside the single-judge's order.
Detailed judgment awaited.
Two days after the single-judge delivered his verdict on the writ petition, the Bar Council of Kerala unanimously resolved to initiate suo motu disciplinary proceedings against Shenoy for a post he put up on his social media account allegedly containing defamatory remarks against Justice TR Ravi.