What is the procedure to complaint against a cheater lawyer?

[ashok dinda]

Sir, I asked my lawyer to put a petition before the high court for the quashing of a FIR , which was lodged on false grounds.

Sir, My lawyer is saying that he has filed the case a week ago and even now he is saying that it may take sometime to get accepted. Further, If I give Rs 5000 , then only the case would be accepted fast else it may take a few weeks further to get it accepted. I have already paid him the fees i.e Rs 50,000. The high court is Punjab & Chandigarh High court.

Sir, whenever I ask for the draft copy of the CASE put up in the High Court, he always refuse saying that Internet is not working etc etc . He is residing in posh locality in Panchkula. I even asked for giving my money back, but he said that he had already put up the CASE. It’s been 2 weeks since he is saying that he had put up the CASE , but still no dairy number etc, even on ecourts website, no update of CASE is present. Now he is not picking up my phone. The money was given in CASH. I have audio recordings of the acceptance of taking money .

Sir, What action do I take ? Is there any complaint cell etc to take complaint of lawyer? Shall I file FIR against him ?

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

Without going into the merits of your case, let me point out that you can file a complaint before the State Bar Council with which the advocate is enrolled as an advocate. Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961, provides for punishment of advocate for misconduct, and is reproduced below:

“35. Punishment of advocates for misconduct.—(1) Where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise a State Bar Council has reason to believe that any advocate on its roll has been guilty of professional or other misconduct, it shall refer the case for disposal to its disciplinary committee.
(1-A) The State Bar Council may, either of its own motion or on application made to it by any person interested, withdraw a proceeding pending before its disciplinary committee and direct the inquiry to be made by any other disciplinary committee of that State Bar Council.
(2) The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council shall fix a date for the hearing of the case and shall cause a notice thereof to be given to the advocate concerned and the Advocate-General of the State.
(3) The disciplinary committee of a State Bar Council after giving the advocate concerned and the Advocate-General an opportunity of being heard, may make any of the following orders, namely :—
(a) dismiss the complaint or, where the proceedings were initiated at the instance of the State Bar Council, direct that the proceedings be filed;
(b) reprimand the advocate;
(c) suspend the advocate from practice for such period as it may deem fit;
(d) remove the name of the advocate from the State roll of advocates.
(4) Where an advocate is suspended from practice under clause (c) of sub-section (3), he shall, during the period of suspension, be debarred from practising in any court or before any authority or person in India.
(5) Where any notice is issued to the Advocate-General under sub-section (2), the Advocate-General may appear before the disciplinary committee of the State Bar Council either in person or through any advocate appearing on his behalf.
Explanation.—In this section, Section 37 and Section 38], the expressions “Advocate-General” and “Advocate-General of the State” shall, in relation to the Union territory of Delhi, mean the Additional Solicitor-General of India.”

     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

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