NEW DELHI: The Union Law Ministry's initiative to check incidents of professional misconduct involving High Court judges and lawyers, who allegedly appear in courts where their relative judges are posted, appears to have gained momentum with some bar associations filing reports on the issue in the Bar Council of India here.
Among the early birds is the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association (RHCBA), Jaipur, which has identified 19 high court judges and 40 advocates allegedly involved inprofessional misconduct.
Secretary of RHCBA Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma, in his report, has said, "We believe in transparency in the justice delivery system and hope that the efforts of the BCI will go a long way to improve the situation."
In Delhi, however, the preparation of such a list is likely to take some more time. Delhi High Court Bar Association president Amarjeet Singh Chandihok said, "We are awaiting replies...we will file a report in court."
Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India (BCI) is keeping a close watch on the situation after the ministry directed it on March 20 this year to ensure compliance of Rule 6 of the BCI which forbids advocates related to a judge from appearing in a court where the judge is posted.
"We had written letters to bar associations in all states about three months ago and are seized of the matter, said BCI member-secretary S Radhakrishnan, refusing to divulge any details till the data was compiled and presented before the Council.
The deputy Secretary of law ministry had written to the BCI after the issue was highlighted in Parliament by Uttar Pradesh MP Baleshwar Yadav.
He reportedly claimed that relatives of 131 High Court judges -- out of a total of 490 such judges in the country -- were appearing before them.
The matter caught the attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who immediately directed the law ministry to look into the state of affairs.
Officials of the BCI said they were in constant touch with the state associations to finish the gigantic task and file a report with ministry at the earliest.
