IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA WRIT PETITION (S) (CRIMINAL) NO. 25 OF 2016 IN THE MATTER OF: N. D. ayaprakash. . VERSUS Union of India And Ann. AFFIDAVIT ON BEHALF OF BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA 1, Ashok Kumar Pandey, Shri S. L. Pandey, aged about 40 years, Joint Secretary, Bar Council of India having its of?ce at 21, Rouse Avenue, Institutional Area, Near Bal Bhawan, New Delhi 110001, do hereby solemnly af?rm and declare as under:? 1. That I am the Joint Secretary of Bar Council of India and as such well acquainted and conversant with the facts and circumstances of the present case on the basis of the records thereof and I am duly authorized and as such competent to swear this af?davit. Ar\ .3 1 . . n13" .Jaw e. . -: 2. That the General Council of Bar Council of India in its emergent meeting dated 21.02.2016 has resolved the following:- OF THE EJWERGENT JWEETIN OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF BAR COUNCIL OF INDL4. Meeting of the General Council of 'the Bar Council of India was held on Sunday the 21$t February, 2016 at 10 AM at New Delhi and for considering the decision of Legal Education Committee, the Council again met at 2:30 RM. The following Members were present:- 1. Mr. Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India 2. Mr. Satish A. Deshmukh, Vice-Chairman, Bar Council of India 3. Mr. S. Prabakaran, Co?Chairman, Bar Council of India 4. Mr. T.S. Ajith, Chairman, Executive Committee and Member, BCI 10. 11. 13. Mr. Ashok Kumar Deb Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Apurba Kumar Sharma, Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Ramchander Rao N., Member, Bar Council ofIndia . r. Dinesh Pathak, Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Rameshchandra G. Shah Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Bhoj Chandr Thakur, Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Debi Prasad Dhal, Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Y.R. Sadasiva Reddy Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Pratap Mehta, Member, Bar Council of India 1 . 14. Mr. Shailendra Dubey, Member, Bar Council of India Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General of India and Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Solicitor General of India, Ex-O?icio Members, Bar Council of India, Hon?ble Members Mr. Vijay Bhatt, Mr. Rajinder Singh Rana, Mr. Biri Singhsinsinwar and Mr. Amit Rana are not present. The absence of Members is condoned. Hon?ble Mr. Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India presided over the meeting. Item No. 0 2016 To consider the incidents which took place on 15th and 17th February, 2016 in Patiala House Court campus and also to consider about the a??idavit to be ?led in Supreme Court in this matter. Resolution The Council has duly discussed and deliberated over the incidents which took place on 15th and 17" February, 2016 in Patiala House Court campus and the/[Mrs of x/ Hon?ble Chairman passed on 15th and 17"! F?b'rt'lary, 2016 '1 . I in passed by the Chairman, BCI on 150' and 17th February, 2016 are hereby rati?ed. Hon?ble Members appeared to be of diverse views on this issue. Some of the Hon?ble Members were of the view that the conduct of the Lawyers should be examined in the light of the background of the unfortunate incidents which took place in the Jawaharlal Nehru University(JN.U.) as well as in Jadavpur University (West Bengal). And because those incidents are more graver in nature and very dangerous for the country, the incidents of Patiala House Court complex might be the outcome of the reaction . i . - - - 1. However, the excess committed, if any, by any Advocate cannot be overlooked The Hon?ble Members opined that the part of act of some Lawyers in manhandling some of the media people, should be considered separately and if at all, it is proved, this can be segregated from other part of the occurrence and the Committee constituted for this purpose may examine as to who all are involved in the incidents of marpit/quarrel or manhandling of the journalists/media people. The Council is of unanimous view that in a democracy like India, Media is one of the strong pillar and therefore any attempt on media by anybody can?ti-be' tolerated ELAW.IN by the has already tendered apology to the media. The Council appeals to the entire legal fraternity to allow the media people to discharge their duties peacefully and properly; and also to cooperate them in their ?mction. Therefore, this part of incident has been taken to be very serious. The Committee is to enquire into this aspect of the matter very cautiously and separately. So far the other part of the incidents i.e. quarrelling or manhandling of students or teacher of J.N.U. is concerned, several Advocates of Patiala High Court campus have informed the Council that large number of outsiders, politicians, students and teachers ?om J.N.U. . had come on 15"1 and 17th February both, by 3-4 buses and they had entered in the Court complex, And there also, they tried to shout slogans and used provocative words for the nation and for Advocates which led to untoward incident in which both sides took part. Hon?ble Members have said that any true citizen or a Lawyer of India, is supposed to strongly react to the slogans like Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad, Bharat tere tukade hoge Insaa Allah-2, India Go Back, Afzal Hum Sharminda Hai, Tere Qatil zinda hai, Pakistan long live, India down down etc.. Such acts of anybody always deserve to be condemned {on ~r and need to be opposed strongly; But l'n'ld?c?n't?and that 7i u- - -u can be methods like the alleged incident. Be that as it may, these were the incidents which occurred in the premises of J.N.U. and Jadavpur University and whether similar slogans were also shouted in the premises of Patiala House Court campus is a fact to be enquired by the Committee constituted by Hon?ble Chairman. Whatever might be the background or reason, the class of Advocates is not supposed to indulge in the incidents of abusing or committing any untoward occurrence in the court premises or anywhere, that too in robes. All the Hon?ble Members are unanimous on this point that those who are supposed to protect the law and savers of Law are not expected to take Law in their own hands. The Council accordingly, resolves to proceed with the enquiry. It is further resolved to bring the orders passed by Hon?ble Chairman alongwith this resolution to the notice of Hon?ble apex Court on 22.2.2016. If Hon?ble apex Court allows the Council to proceed with the enquiry, only then the resolution of the Council will stand rati?ed otherwise it is subject to the ?nal order of the Hon?ble apex Court dealing with this incident. It is further made clear that the Chairman has already taken cognizance of the incident of abusW?Hon?ble -. Members of the team constituted by ?heHon?bIe apex Court. This conduct of the Advocates is very unfortunate and the Committee is to examine and enquire into these aspects also. Resolved accordingly.? 3. That the copy of the order dated 15.2.2016 and 17.2.2016 passed by Hon?ble Chairman, Bar Council of India is annexed herewith and marked as Annexure (colly). 4. That the averments made hereinabove are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. . . DEPONENT VERIFICATION Veri?ed at New Delhi on this the 21 day of February, 2016. I, the above-named deponent, do hereby verify that the contents of the above af?davit are true and correct. 0 part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed therefrom. 1.: . if. - .: w'u- .1, An maneuver? February 15, 2016 ORDER I have taken the incident which took place today in the Patiala House Court campus very seriously. Whatever I saw on the electronic Medias and the other video-clippings, is ommitt clippings, the statements of the people?who have allegedly been manhandled and also recording the statements of individual Advoates and Of?ce-Bearers of Patiala Court Bar Association. - It will be a 3-M?mber Committee cosn siting of one former Chief Justice of High Court Hon?ble Mr. Justice L. Narsimha Reddy, one designated senior Advocate of Supreme Court of India namely Mr. M.N. Krishnamani and one Member of the Council Mr. S. We shall also make a request to the Committee to complete the enquiry expeditiously and if need be to hold the proceedings on day to day basis. Of?ce is to convene an Order accordingly. Put up this order for rati?cation in the meeting of the Council on 21.2.2016. 4. Manan Kumar Mishra Chairman, Bar Council of India y. ?uly. - AW.IN February 17, 2016 Y) cream ORDER Only on 150? evening (15.2.2016), the Council had taken the deicison to hold an enquin into the incident of 15.2.2016. But what has happened today in the same premises of Patiala House Court is really very shameful. The manhanding and beating of media people and Mr. Kanhaiya Kumar by the Lawyers and other outsiders in the Court premises is really very sad. The height of the issue is that even after the order of Hon?ble apex Court, the Lawyers did not follow it, rather in the second half of the day when the Hon?ble apex Court constituted a Committee/ team of senior Lawyers to visit the Court premises in order to ?nd-out the names of guilty people and in order to keep the peace and Law Order maintained in the campus, a handful of Lawyers have gone to the extent of abusing the I-Ion?ble senior and respectable Members of the Bar. These disgruntled and unruly Advocates have downgraded the dignity and decorum of the legal profession. Shouting of slogans, use of abusive languages against the Hon?ble 'Members of the team (appointed by the Hon?ble apex Court) and the alleged act of pelting stones on their vehicles are really very serious misconduct which the Bar Council of India is not going to tolerate. Because of this misconduct of only handful, errant Lawyers of Patiala House Courts, the image of legal fraternity throughout the country has been maligned. What I feel is that, the attention of the whole country has been diverted from the main issue and the serious incicent which took place in Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityUNU) and adhavpur University towards the class of Advocates. Some of the media have branded these Lawyers as goons in balck courts. Uptil now: the media and people were examining and analyzing the role of anti-national students, the teachers and the role of politicians, but these handful of Lawyers have diverted the attention of entire country towards the role of Advocates and Bar. Even the apex Court was compelled to intervene in the matter. Under these circumstances, I again contacted the Hon?ble members of the Council, I was advised-to seek apology from the media people and from the people who have allegedly been marihandled by the Advocates. We have also decided to make a request to the Committee constituted on 15.2.2016 to include these incidents of today also a part of subject matter of enquiry and to collect evidence, conclude the enquiry expeditiously and submit its report The process of enquiry should be completed and report should be submitted to the Council within a period of 3 weeks from the date of receipt of records/ resolution of the Council. Put up the matter before the General House on 21.2.2106. Order accordingly. ?92.31%- Manan Kumar Mishra Chairman, Bar Council of India