•  •  Dark Mode

Your Interests & Preferences

I am a...

law firm lawyer
in-house company lawyer
litigation lawyer
law student
aspiring student
other

Website Look & Feel

 •  •  Dark Mode
Blog Layout

Save preferences

Advocates must represent the ‘vile, degenerate, repulsive’ too, says SC

The Supreme Court denounced that a refusal to accept a brief of an accused by an advocates association or other representative body was “a disgrace to the legal community” and “null and void”.

The bench headed by Justice Markandey Katju quashed the counter-criminal charges filed by lawyers and policemen that stemmed from a 2007 dispute between lawyers and women constables in Coimbatore.

The court held: “Professional ethics requires that a lawyer cannot refuse a brief, provided a client is willing to pay his fee, and the lawyer is not otherwise engaged.”

This decision arose from Coimbatore Bar Association’s resolution declining to defend the policemen embroiled in a fight with lawyers back in 2007, the Hindustan Times reported.

“Every person, however, wicked, depraved, vile, degenerate, perverted, loathsome, execrable, vicious or repulsive he may be regarded by society, has a right to be defended in a court of law and correspondingly it is the duty of the lawyer to defend him,” the Supreme Court said.

Click here to read the full judgment delving into Thomas Paine's Rights of Man and British colonialism.

Click to show 4 comments
at your own risk
(alt+c)
By reading the comments you agree that they are the (often anonymous) personal views and opinions of readers, which may be biased and unreliable, and for which Legally India therefore has no liability. If you believe a comment is inappropriate, please click 'Report to LI' below the comment and we will review it as soon as practicable.