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Supreme Court of India

M. POORNACHANDRAN AND ANR.versusSTATE OF TAMIL NADU AND ORS.

Citation
1996 INSC 1292
Decided
6 November 1996
Disposal
Dismissed

Holding

A review petition filed by an advocate who was not the original advocate‑on‑record and who failed to obtain a No Objection Certificate from the former counsel is not maintainable and must be dismissed.

Summary

The Supreme Court considered a review petition (No. 2070 of 1996) filed by Shri Prabir Chowdhury on behalf of M. Poornachandran and others against a judgment of the Madras High Court. The petitioner was not the advocate‑on‑record (AOR) who argued the original appeal, nor was he present during the proceedings. The Court noted that the petitioner had not obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the former AOR, despite being informed of this requirement by the Registry. It held that filing a review petition without such a NOC violates professional practice and disqualifies the advocate from appearing. Moreover, the grounds of the petition went beyond the limited scope of a review and amounted to a re‑argument of the case. Consequently, the Court dismissed the review petition as having no merit.

Issues considered

  • Can an advocate who was not the original advocate‑on‑record file a review petition without obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the former AOR?
  • Does the failure to obtain a No Objection Certificate disqualify the filing of a review petition?
  • Are the grounds of the petition maintainable when they exceed the limited scope of a review and amount to a re‑argument?

Subjects

review petitionadvocate-on-recordNo Objection CertificateSupreme Courtprofessional ethicsprocedureappeal

Judgment

A                     M. POORNACHANDRAN AND ANR.
                                          v.
                      STATE OF TAMIL NADU AND ORS.

                               NOVEMBER 6, 1996

B                     [K. RAMASWAMY, B.L. HANSARIA
                           AND S.B. MAJMUDAR, JJ.]

          Practice and Procedure :

          Review petition-Filing of before the Supreme Court-Advocate on
C Record filing the review petition-Not obtained "No Objection Certificate"
    from the Advocate-on-Record in the appeal-He was neither a counsel of
    the petitioner when the appeal was heard nor was he present at that time-
    Grounds taken in the review petition do not confine to the scope ofreview-
    Held, it would be not in the interest ofthe profession to permit such practice.
D
           Advocate-on-Record-Filing review petition before the Supreme Court
     without obtaining "No objection Certificate"from the Advocate-on-Record
    in the app.eal-Held, filing of "No Objection Certificate" would be the
     basis for him to come on record-Otherwise the Advocate-on-Record is
    answerable to the Court-Failure to obtain "No Objection Certificate"
E   from the erstwhile counsel has disentitled him to file the review petition.

         CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Review Petition (C) No.
    2070 of 1996.

          JN
F
          Arising out of Civil Appeal No. 1867of1992

         From the Judgment and Order dated 22.4.91 of the Madras High
    Court in W.P. Nos. 9269of1983.
G
          Prabir Chowdhary for the Petitioner/Appellants.

          The following of the Court was delivered :

H         The record of the appeal indicates that Shri Sudarsh Menon was the
                                       542
                    M. POORNACHANDRAN v. STATE OF T.N.                        543


     Advocate-on-Record when the appeal was heard and decided on merits,             A
     The Review Petition has been filed by Shri Prabir Chowdhury who was
     neither an arguing counsel when the appeal was heard nor was he present
     at the time of arguments. It is unknown on what basis he has written the
     grounds in the Review Petition as if it is a re-hearing of an appeal against
     our order. He did not confine to the scope of review. It would be not in the
     interest of the profession to permit such practice. That part, he has not       B
     obtained "No Objection Certificate" from the Advocate-an-Record in the
     appeal, inspite the fact that Registry had informed him of the requirement
     for do'ng so. Filing of the "No Objection Certificate" would be the basis
     for him to come on record. Otherwise, the Advocate-an-Record is
     answerable to the Court. The failure to obtain the "No Objection Certificate"
     from the erstwhile counsel has disentitled him to file the Review petition.     C
     Even otherwise, the Review petition has no merits. It is an attempt to
     reargue the matter.

            On these grounds, we dismiss the Review Petition.

                                                                                     D
--   R.P.                                                    Petition dismissed.


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