The Supreme Court recently overturned a Bar Council of India order that had dismissed a revision petition filed by a litigant alleging professional misconduct by Advocates Alok Dhir and Maneesha Dhir, partners at Dhir & Dhir Associates. 

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan observed that the BCI rejected the revision petition against the Bar Council of Delhi’s order dismissing the complaint, without providing any reasoning.

The Supreme Court emphasized that while an order of affirmation may not require elaborate reasoning, it cannot be passed without stating any reason at all.

"The 'what', i.e., the conclusion, must have the 'why', i.e., the reasons (at least in brief), to stand on, which is conspicuous by its absence in the impugned order of affirmation. On this short ground, we set aside the revisional order of the BCI," the bench observed.

The Supreme Court directed the Bar Council of India to reconsider the revision petition and issue a fresh order after hearing the parties, in accordance with the law, within six months.  

The complaint was filed by Sailesh Bhansali, who had engaged Dhir & Dhir Associates to handle a Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) matter for his company, Madras Petrochem. He alleged that the lawyers had a conflict of interest, as they also operated an Asset Reconstruction Company (Dhir & Dhir ARC). According to Bhansali, this dual role allowed the ARC to access confidential information about Madras Petrochem, ultimately leading to a situation where Dhir & Dhir ARC acquired the company’s loans and became its largest lender. He further claimed that he was misled into providing a "no-objection" letter for their representation, as the connection between the law firm and the ARC was not fully disclosed to him at the time.

The Bar Council of Delhi dismissed the complaint, citing the "no-objection" letter provided by the litigant as the basis for its decision.

The petitioner was represented by Gopal Sankaranarayan, Sr. Adv. and Aditya N. Mehta instructed by A. Karthik, AOR.

Respondents were represented by : Gourab Banerji, Sr. Adv., Ashu Kansal, Dipanshu Krishnan, and Karan Batura, AOR

Case : Sailesh Bhansali vs Alok Dhir and others | CIVIL APPEAL Diary No. 36274/2024