Dismissing a criminal appeal in Central Bureau of Investigation, Hyderabad v K Narayana Rao, the Supreme Court recently held that merely because a lawyer’s “opinion may not be acceptable, he cannot be mulcted with the criminal prosecution, particularly, in the absence of tangible evidence that he associated with other conspirators”.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had appealed a July 2010 ruling of Andhra Pradesh High Court quashing criminal proceedings pending against K Narayana Rao, a lawyer who had been empanelled by a bank. The CBI alleged that Rao had verified and given legal opinion against documents that were used by officials of the banks to defraud the bank. Andhra Pradesh High Court had concluded that there was insufficient material to conclude that Rao acted as a conspirator, so as to be charged for the offence of defrauding the bank.
Dismissing the appeal filed by the CBI, Supreme Court held that “there is a world of difference between the giving of improper legal advice and the giving of wrong legal advice. Mere negligence unaccompanied by any moral delinquency on the part of a legal practitioner in the exercise of his profession does not amount to professional misconduct”.
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The update of court judgments is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.
