Uttarakhand Judge v. Senior: Supreme Court disposes of matter

The tiff between Senior Advocate Avtar Singh Rawat and Justice Lok Pal Singh of the Uttarakhand High Court that had reached the Supreme Court, has come to a close..The Supreme Court Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan on Friday disposed of the matter that was filed after Justice Singh made some adverse remarks against Rawat and called for his Senior Designation to be taken away from him..A judgment to this effect was passed while the High Court was hearing a land acquisition dispute involving Power Grid Corporation of India, for whom Rawat had appeared..It was taken on record that Rawat had previously appeared for the petitioner Gurbachan Singh in a plea filed against Power Grid Corporation of India in 2009. The fact that Rawat later represented the opposite side in a later petition was, in the opinion of the judge, unethical..In an order passed on January 11 this year, the Court had given Rawat an opportunity to file his objections to the averments in the application. Then, he had submitted that he was not the Advocate-on-Record for the 2009 matter, since he was engaged as a Senior Counsel..However, the Court found that Rawat was not a designated Senior Counsel at that point. Despite the opportunity granted by the Court, Rawat did not withdraw himself from the case and argued the matter on behalf of Power Grid Corporation of India against his previous client in the same subject matter..The Court did not hold back in criticizing the conduct of Rawat in this matter. While noting that his conduct was against professional ethics, the Court left it open for the applicant to file a complaint against him under the Advocates Act..As far as the Senior designation was concerned, the Court held,.“This conduct is not accepted from a common prudent person, much less a Senior Advocate. A lawyer is known for his extra ordinary knowledge/intelligence. A bonafide mistake is excusable, but a mistake committed deliberately is inexcusable. From the material available on record, as also from the statement of Mr. A.S. Rawat, Senior Advocate it would reveal that it was not a bonafide mistake committed by Mr. A.S. Rawat, Senior Advocate, rather it was a deliberate act….…Mr. A.S. Rawat, Senior Advocate failed to maintain the dignity, moral and high ethics of a Senior Advocate and acted in unethical manner.”.Thus, Justice Singh concluded that Rawat, through his conduct, had forfeited the distinction conferred upon him by the Court..“In the opinion of this Court, he does not deserve to continue as a Senior Advocate.”.The Supreme Court, after receiving assurances that no such move to strip Rawat of his designation was initiated, disposed of the matter. The Court also set aside the directions contained in paragraphs 45 and 46 of Justice Singh’s judgment, in which he called for the matter to be placed before the Chief Justice of the High Court for cancellation of Rawat’s designation..“Having gone through the entire matter, we are of the opinion that no such directions were called for in the matter. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the observations which are made in the impugned Judgment against the appellant as well as the directions contained in Paragraphs 45 and 46 of the impugned Judgment are set aside.”.Read the order: