The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petition of the Madhya Pradesh Bar Council members against contempt proceedings. The commission on Friday said it will consider registering the petition challenging the ongoing contempt proceedings against the state bar council chairman and others before the Madhya Pradesh high court for allegedly calling for a strike.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra took cognizance of the statement of senior advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing before the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council and other members of the bar, that some members of the bar were pending contempt proceedings before him and there is a need for a quick discussion on the issue.
According to him, not only the chairman of the Bar Association, but also 103 Bar Associations are facing contempt proceedings. The matter should be heard soon. To this the CJI said, ‘I will look into the matter.’
The Madhya Pradesh High Court initiated a contempt case against the chairman of the state bar council and its elected members over the ongoing strike by lawyers in the state. The court said that the bar association chose the path of strike instead of resolving the issue. Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Bar Council Pradesh filed an appeal against the High Court’s interim order dated November 2 last year.
This is the case
It is worth noting that in March 2023, the lawyers started an indefinite strike throughout the country. The High Court, while discussing the case as a petition for recognition, ordered the lawyers to immediately return to work. The High Court said that if the lawyers did not return to work, this would be considered a contempt of court. Contempt proceedings were initiated against the chairman and other members for striking against it and all lawyers were asked to stay away from work, leading to widespread unrest in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Now the lawyer gave this claim
The urgent letter submitted through lawyer Sameer Sodhi said, “The Supreme Court itself realized that its order was not heeded, following which contempt proceedings were initiated against the chairman and other office-bearers of the Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council. However, the matter has been resolved. The strike was called off on March 29 last year after the intervention of the Supreme Court.
The letter states that the members of the bar submitted an unconditional apology to the High Court on November 2, 2023. It was also stated, “The High Court accepted the apology given by the lawyers and delayed the contempt proceedings against them. But did not accept the apology given by the president of the Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh and its officials.Contempt proceedings are being conducted against him.
