The Kerala bar council has suspended a lawyer for professional misconduct after “indulging in business activities apart from being an advocate”.
Lawyer and former IAS officer Alphons Kannanthanam had obtained a trademark as a proprietor of a “career coaching centre” while practising as a lawyer, reported The Hindu, for which the bar council’s disciplinary committee found him guilty of misconduct.
The committee held that he had “converted his proprietorship business to a private limited company and became the chairman of the company”, from which he was receiving Rs 25,000 a month as well as 15 per cent of the company’s revenues.
The committee said he should be debarred but should also be given an opportunity to stop his business within six months and continue practising as a lawyer if he desired to do so, reported The Hindu.
Update 17 November: The Kerala High Court has stayed the bar council's decision, according to a PTI report of 12 November, saying it was prima facie satisfied that the decision could not be sustained.
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When a doctors or engineers can do business, why not advocates ?
They are technically more equipped than them.Age old rules needed to be changed.
Your point about changing "age old rules" is valid, but as an advocate or a law student, you should know that until the law is changed you must comply and be prepared to face the music if found breaking it.
I'm an aspiring entrepreneur myself, and within two years of starting work and building up a healthy amount as savings, i cant wait to put my ideas into practice and see how they go.
Incidentally, nothing stops you from branching out on your own as an entrepreneur. But, you cannot at the same time be a practicing advocate. Good luck with your future enterprise.
- Aninda.
We have corrected the headline and added an update to the story.
Best regards
Kian
This is good for business. If everyone agreed on the law, lawyers would have little to do.
Many head of legal firms, manager of legal firms never seen court or not seen couts for long periods still they call themselves as law firms..but they are basically liaising agent between client and person who real appears in the court..etc..Knowing law and practising law as lawyer is two different thing..one must bear in mind, thousands of member of bar council are in full time of employment and side by side holding certificate of practice, system requires modification where one must differentiate person who is really lawyer and in practice and one who is working merely as employees or officers under command and control of other person with vested interest in masters not in law, lawyer should be independent from clients views and must not have master to command .lawyers master is none except the law..legal framework irrespective of clients interest , interest of law is supreme for lawyer..this is law, follow it or not it is your own conciousness but once caught in red handed don't take excuse that every body is doing same.. BCI and Bar council are impotent bodies now...therefore all type of Mal practices going on
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