The Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh has directed all bar associations across the state to submit within 15 days a list of advocates against whom serious criminal cases are registered, chargesheets have been filed or trials are pending.
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On July 23, the Bar Council secretary sent a letter to presidents/secretaries of all registered bar associations in this regard. The directive was issued in compliance with the June 3, 2026 order passed by the Allahabad high court in writ petition related to Mohd Kafeel vs State of UP & Another.
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The bar council has warned of strict consequences for non-compliance. “All bar associations are further directed that if they violate this order, the affiliation of such bar association with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh will be cancelled. Members of such bar associations will not be entitled to the benefit of any welfare schemes run by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh. It will also be deemed that they are violating the order of the high court and a report in this regard will be submitted to the high court,” said the circular.
The bar council has also forwarded the high court’s order in this regard to all bar associations. The move comes amid the high court’s push for greater accountability and transparency in the legal profession in the wake of criminal cases against members of the bar associations.
in June 2024, the then Lucknow’s joint commissioner of police (law and order) Upendra Agarwal had submitted a report to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh with the names of the 112 lawyers against whom 149 complaints were received by his office.
A special cell had been constituted at the JCP’s office to look into the complaints. The JCP recommended cancellation of licence issued by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to practise law.
Among the complaints, 92 were related to illegal possession of land and 57 with the issuing of threats. Subsequently, the Bar Council of UP decided to constitute its own committee to cross -examine the list submitted by the police.
This report came in the backdrop of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court taking serious note of complaints related to lawyers involved in property dealings instead of pursuing cases in courts.
A division bench of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice NK Johari on December 2, 2023 had directed the state government to take stern action against such legal practitioners. The high court also asked the Bar Council of India to suggest ways to check such lawyers so that the dignity of the legal profession could be maintained.
The high court had passed the order on 11 writ petitions clubbed together, including the one filed by a local lawyer Prashant Singh Gaur in 2010, seeking action against lawyers involved in property dealing and facing criminal charges.
