The High Court of Uttarakhand has ordered the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the Bar Council of Uttarakhand to respond within one week to a petition contesting the increase in costs for submitting complaints against attorneys with the State Bar Council. Any disciplinary investigation against a lawyer must first be begun before the payment is made to the Bar Council of India. [1]
On Monday, a Bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal issued an order on a petition alleging that the Bar Council of Uttarakhand had raised the fee for filing a complaint against an Advocate to Rs 5,500 and that only after payment could the complaint be considered for disciplinary action against the lawyer in question. [2]
The petitioner’s counsel, lawyer Kartikey Hari Gupta, stated that under the Bar Council of India Rules, only a maximum of Rs 450 may be levied to make a complaint for disciplinary action against a lawyer.
The petitioner claimed that the Bar Council of Uttarakhand’s decision to set the charge at Rs 5,5000 was illegitimate and that because of such exorbitant costs, even genuine complainants were unable to file a complaint against a lawyer’s wrongdoing. The fee hike is being applied, according to the Bar Council of Uttarakhand’s order, to cut down on baseless complaints.
The matter was scheduled for hearing on June 13 by the Bench. [3]
(Case title: Satya Devi Tyagi vs State)
Written by- Himanshu Mishra, a student at St. Mother Teresa Law Degree College, Lucknow, 2nd Semester, an intern under Legal Vidhiya.
References:
[1] BAR AND BENCH, https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/uttarakhand-high-court-seeks-response-from-bci-state-bar-council-on-plea-challenging-fee-hike-for-filing-complaint-against-lawyers (last visited on 24th MAY 2023);
[2] Ibid;
[3] LEGAL WORLD, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, https://legal.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/litigation/hike-in-fee-for-filing-complaint-against-advocate-hc-issues-notice-to-bar-council/100419834 (last visited on 24th MAY 2023).
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