Kerala HC quashes Bar Council disciplinary action against lawyer
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Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday granted relief to advocate Yeshwanth Shenoy, President of the Kerala High Court Advocate Association, by setting aside disciplinary proceedings initiated against him by the Bar Council of Kerala.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar overturned a previous ruling by a Single Judge, who had declined to intervene in the Bar Council's action.
The proceedings stemmed from a 2023 suo moto case following a complaint by former High Court Judge Mary Joseph, who alleged that Shenoy had shouted at and harassed her in court, even threatening to have her removed from the bench.
While the contempt case was later closed by a Division Bench, the Bar Council initiated separate proceedings based on the judge’s letter, citing violations of professional conduct.
Shenoy responded by filing an internal complaint against the judge, which was not pursued by the then Chief Justice. He later challenged the Bar Council’s actions, arguing that it could not initiate suo moto proceedings based on a communication treated as a complaint, particularly one not filed in the proper format.
Despite this, the Single Judge earlier held that the Bar Council was justified in considering the judge’s letter as a valid complaint. The Council met, unanimously voted to register it, issued a show cause notice, and upon receiving Shenoy’s response, referred the case to its Disciplinary Committee.
This order has now been set aside by the Division Bench.
(inputs from IANS)
