41.
Punishment of advocates for misconduct.--[1][(1)
An advocate may, in the manner hereinafter provided, be reprimanded, suspended,
removed from practice or be made to pay such amount of compensation, fine or
penalty as may be ordered, if he is found guilty of professional or other
misconduct.]
(2) A complaint that an advocate has been
guilty of misconduct may be made by any Court or person.--
(a) in the case of an advocate of the Supreme
Court to the Pakistan Bar Council; and
(b) in
any other case, to the Provincial Bar Council.
(3) Every complaint against an advocate made
under sub-section (2), except where the complaint has been made by a Court,
shall be accompanied by [2][such
fee as may be prescribed by the Pakistan Bar Council from time to time.]
(4) Upon receipt of a complaint under
sub-section (2) against any advocate, the disciplinary Committee of the Bar
Council may, unless it summarily rejects the complaint, after making such
enquiry and giving the parties such opportunity of being heard as it may
consider necessary either reject the complaint or refer the same to a Tribunal
for decision:
Provided that the disciplinary Committee shall
not summarily reject a complaint made by the Supreme Court or a High Court.
42. Tribunals of Bar Councils.--(1) The
Pakistan Bar Council may constitute one or more Tribunals each consisting of
two of its members elected by it for the purpose and a Judge of the Supreme
Court nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who shall be the Chairman.
(2)
A Provincial Bar Council may constitute one or more Tribunals each consisting
of two of its members elected by it for the purpose and a Judge of the High
Court nominated by the Chief Justice of that Court, who shall be the Chairman.
43. Procedure in inquiries.--(1) In
inquiries relating to conduct of advocates, the Tribunal shall, except as
hereinafter provided, follow such procedure as may be prescribed.
(2)
The Tribunal shall fix a date for the hearing of the case and shall cause
notice of the day so fixed to be given to the complainant, to the advocate
concerned and to the Advocate- General of the Province and shall afford to the
complaint, the advocate concerned and the Advocate-General an opportunity of
leading evidence, if any, and of being heard before orders are passed in the
case.
(3)
The chairman of the Tribunal may empower one of the members of the Tribunal to
consider and decide preliminary issues and to record evidence.
(4)
The Tribunal may, where it considers it necessary so to do, require the person
making a complaint, except where the complaint has been made by a Court, to
deposit with the Tribunal, as security for costs, such sum as it may specify.
(5) On completion of the inquiry, the Tribunal
may either dismiss the complaint or, where reference to the Inquiry Committee
on whose report the matter has come before the Tribunal was made at the motion
of a Bar Council, direct that the proceedings be filed: or it may make an order
imposing any of the penalties referred to in sub-section (1) of Section 41.
(6)
Where the Tribunal makes an order for the suspension of an advocate from
practice, it shall specify the period of suspension, and for that period the
advocate shall be debarred from practising in any Court or before any authority
or person in
(7)
The Tribunal may, of its own motion or on application made to it in this
behalf, review any order passed under sub-section (5) and maintain, vary or
rescind the same, as it thinks fit.
(8)
When any advocate is reprimanded .or suspended from practice under this Act, a
record of the punishment shall be entered against his name in the Provincial
roll or, as the case may be, the roll of advocates of the Supreme Court
maintained by the Pakistan Bar Council, and the common roll, and when advocate
is removed from practice his name shall forthwith be struck off the roll; and
the certificate of any advocate so suspended or removed shall be recalled.
44. Order as to costs.--(1) An Inquiry
Committee and a Tribunal may make such order as to costs of proceedings before
it as it may deem fit; and where the Committee or, as the case may be, the
Tribunal is of the opinion that the complaint made against an advocate is false
and vexatious, it may, without prejudice to any other remedy available to the
advocate, impose upon the complainant compensatory costs not exceeding a sum of
five hundred rupees:
Provided
that no order under this sub-section shall be made against a Court or the
presiding officer of a Court.
(2)
The Tribunal may, on an application made to it in this behalf within the
prescribed period, revise any order passed by the Inquiry Committee under
sub-section (1) or, of its own motion or on application so made, review any
order passed by the Tribunal under that sub-section and may, in either case,
maintain, vary or rescind the same, as it thinks fit.
(3)
Subject to sub-section (2), every order of the Inquiry Committee or the
Tribunal under sub-section (1) shall be executable,--
(a) if the Committee is appointed, or the
Tribunal is constituted, by the Pakistan Bar Council, as if it were an order of
the Supreme Court; and
(b) if the Committee is appointed or the
Tribunal is constituted, by a Provincial Bar Council, as if it were an order of
the High Court.
45. Powers of the Tribunal and Inquiry
Committee in Inquiries.--(1) For the purposes of any such inquiry as
aforesaid, an Inquiry Committee and a Tribunal shall have the same powers as
are vested In a Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908),
in respect of the following matters namely,--
(a) enforcing the attendance of any person,
(b) compelling the production of documents, and
(c) issuing commissions for the examination of
witnesses:
Provided
that the Inquiry Committee or the Tribunal shall not have powers to require the
attendance of the presiding officer of any Civil or Criminal Court save with
the previous sanction of the High Court or, in the case of the presiding
officer of a Revenue Court, of the Provincial Government.
(2)
Every such inquiry shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning
of Sections 193 and 228 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860); and an
Inquiry Committee and a Tribunal shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the
purposes of Sections 480 and 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V
of 1898).
(3)
For the purpose of enforcing the attendance of any person or of compelling the
production of documents or issuing commissions—
(a) the local limits of the jurisdiction of an
Inquiry Committee and a Tribunal shall be those of the jurisdiction of the Bar
Council by which the Committee has been appointed or, as the case may be, the
Tribunal has been constituted; and
(b) an Inquiry Committee and a Tribunal may
send to any Civil Court having jurisdiction in the place where the Committee
or, as the case may be, the Tribunal is sitting, any summons or other process
for the attendance of a witness of the production of a document required by the
Committee or Tribunal, or any commission which it desires to issue, and the
civil Court shall serve such process or issue such commission, as the case may
be and may enforce any such process as if it were process for attendance or
production before itself.
(4)
Proceedings before an Inquiry Committee or a Tribunal in any such inquiry shall
be deemed to be civil proceedings for the purposes of Section 132 of the
Evidence Act, 1872 (I of 1872), and the provisions of that Section shall apply
accordingly.
46. Disciplinary power of the Pakistan
Council.--(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter, the
Disciplinary Committee of the Pakistan Bar Council may, of its own motion,
withdraw for inquiry before itself any proceedings for disciplinary action
against any advocate pending before a Provincial Bar Council or any
Conciliation Committee or inquiry Committee appointed by it, and dispose of the
same.
(2)
In disposing of any case under this Section, the Disciplinary Committee of the
Pakistan Bar Council shall observe, so far as may be, the procedure laid down
in Section 43, the reference to the "Advocate-General" in that Section
being construed as reference to the "Attorney General for Pakistan".
(3)
In disposing of any case under this Section, the Disciplinary Committee of the
Pakistan Bar Council may make any order which the Tribunal can make under
Section 43, and the Tribunal shall give effect to any such order.
47. Appeal to the
(2)
Every such appeal shall be heard by the Disciplinary Committee of the Pakistan
Bar Council which may pass such order thereon as it may deem fit.