All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 2-II Previous Year Question Papers with Answers

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69.

A sought enrolment as an advocate. However, having been convicted under sections 411 and 473 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, A wished to make this known at the time of his enrolment, but found no column in the form that asked for such disclosure. Therefore, he did not disclose his convictions. Does this amount to a violation of the Bar Council of India Rules, 1975 ?


Principle :

A person seeking enrolment as an advocate has a duty to disclose facts material to his Application.
A: A did not commit any mistake as he intended to disclose his conviction but the application form did not require the disclosure.
B: A owed a duty to disclose even if the information is not expressly sought and therefore, the Bar Council of the concerned State may remove him from its rolls after giving him a fair hearing.
C: Since the Bar Council of the concerned State negligently enrolled A as an advocate, it cannot remove A from its rolss.
D: Since A is already enrolled, the Bar Council of the concerned State cannot remove him for its rolls.
E: Both C and D.

The answer is: B

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Explanation

The correct option is B: A owed a duty to disclose even if the information is not expressly sought, and therefore, the Bar Council of the concerned State may remove him from its rolls after giving him a fair hearing.

Explanation:

The principle states that a person seeking enrolment as an advocate has a duty to disclose facts material to their application. In this case, A had been convicted under sections 411 and 473 of the Indian Penal Code, which are certainly material facts that the Bar Council should consider when determining eligibility for enrolment as an advocate.

Even if the application form did not explicitly ask for such disclosure, A still had a duty to disclose these convictions because they are material to the application. Failure to disclose such material facts could be seen as a violation of the duty to provide complete and honest information during the enrolment process.

Options A, C, and D are not accurate:

A. A did commit a mistake by not disclosing the convictions, even if the form did not explicitly ask for it. The duty to disclose material facts is independent of the form's content.

C. The negligence of the Bar Council in enrolling A does not absolve A of their duty to disclose material facts. A has a personal responsibility to disclose such information.

D. Being already enrolled does not exempt A from potential consequences if it is discovered later that material facts were not disclosed during the enrolment process.

Option E is also not accurate because option B provides the correct interpretation of the situation.