The Bar Council of India Directs Inquiry into Prashant Bhushan and Dushyant Dave

Acting on a complaint lodged by advocate R. P. Luthra, the Bar Council of India (BCI) passed an Order on January 24. Regarding the complaint against Prashant Bhushan, the BCI referred the matter to a Special Committee of the Bar Council of Delhi with a reference to the State Bar Council to “get the matter (complaint) disposed of within a period of 15 days”, the Bar Council of Delhi has been directed to decide the matter before March 5, 2018. The BCI directed a Special Committee of the Bar Council of Gujarat with respect to Dushyant Dave “to look into and decide on the complaint within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt” of the Order.

R. P. Luthra had submitted his complaint to the Secretary, Bar Council of India alleging ‘professional misconduct’ against both Prashant Bhushan and Dushyant Dave. In his letter, he accused Bhushan of ‘forum shopping’ and both of them of casting aspersions on the independence of the judiciary. The allegations against Bhushan were in relation to the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) petition regarding allegations of bribes being paid to judicial officers to obtain favourable orders. This petition was an outcome of the ‘Medical Colleges Admission Scam’. Both Bhushan and Dave had appeared in the matter which was disposed of by the Supreme Court. The Court disposed the matter on two grounds, firstly, an earlier petition filed by Kamini Jaiswal seeking the same relief had been disposed on the ground that it was ‘frivolous’. The second reason for disposing of the CJAR petition was also that it was ‘frivolous’ and that it sought to bring disrepute to the Court. The Court further imposed a fine of 25 lakhs to be paid by the petitioners.

Luthra raised further allegations against Dave for his conduct in the Court wherein he made certain remarks against Harish Salve who was appearing on behalf of the Government of Maharashtra in the Judge Loya case, whereas Dave was appearing on behalf of one of the petitioners, Tehseen Poonawala. The evidence submitted by Luthra is all in the public domain. The big question is ‘why has the Supreme Court not initiated contempt proceedings against both Bhushan and Dave?’ It is well within the power of the Court in both instances to initiate contempt proceedings against the two advocates. The CJAR petition was found by the Supreme Court to be frivolous and that it sought to bring disrepute to the Court. Why did the Court not initiate contempt proceedings against the petitioners for it, particularly since Prashant Bhushan is an office bearer in CJAR? The comments against Harish Salve were in open Court, why did the Court not initiate contempt proceedings against Dushyant Dave who from the transcripts did not quite adhere to the Court decorum. It is therefore interesting that a third party has submitted a complaint against the two. It is more interesting since Dave is appearing in the Judge Loya case.