BCI Rules Don’t Bar Advocate-Accused from Appearing for Co-Accused: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held that the Bar Council of India Rules do not prohibit an advocate, who is himself an accused in a criminal case, from representing a co-accused in the same matter.

The Court quashed criminal proceedings initiated against an advocate who had appeared on behalf of his son while both were arrayed as accused in a cheating case.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf observed that neither the Advocates Act nor the BCI Rules contain any express prohibition against such representation, making the prosecution legally unsustainable.

[Suresh Pradsad Khare v. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh]