CHAPTER V CONDUCT OF ADVOCATES

Section 35: Punishment of advocates for misconduct

The Advocates Act, 1961

(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.

¹[(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 ²*** 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:―

(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;

(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 practising in any court or before any authority or person in India.

(5) Where any notice is issued to the Advocate-General under sub-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[Explanation.―In this section, ¹[section 37 and section 38], the expressions “Advocate-General” and “Advocate-General of the State” shall, in relation to the Union territory of Delhi, mean the Additional Solicitor General of India.]

Footnotes in the official text

1.Ins. by Act 60 of 1973, s. 24 (w.e.f. 31-1-1974).
2.The words “, if it does not summarily reject the complaint,” omitted by s. 24, ibid. (w.e.f. 31-1-1974).
3.Ins. by Act 21 of 1964, s. 17 (w.e.f. 16-5-1964).

Leading cases

Questions on this section

4 questions in 2 of our papers cite Section 35. Try these from the free papers:

1. No complaint has been filed against advocate F, but the State Bar Council, on material placed before it, has reason to believe that F has been guilty of professional misconduct. Under Section 35(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961, the State Bar Council:
2. A complaint against advocate G is pending before one disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council. The complainant applies to the State Bar Council for the inquiry to be made by a different committee. Under Section 35(1A) of the Advocates Act, 1961:
3. Assertion (A): A State Bar Council may proceed under Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961 against an advocate on its roll for misconduct committed outside the course of his professional work. Reason (R): Section 35(1) applies where the State Bar Council has reason to believe that an advocate on its roll has been guilty of "professional or other misconduct".

Practise questions on Professional Ethics & BCI Rules