HC directs TN bar council to initiate disciplinary action against 7 advocates

The Madras High Court Tuesday directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP) to initiate disciplinary action against seven advocates involved in duplicate motor accident claims.

Taking a serious view of the involvement of lawyers and touts in the process of filing multiple insurance claims for an accident, the court had earlier appointed an expert body headed by retired judge K Chandru to inquire into the menace.

The court had appointed the body while hearing a petition filed by Cholamandalam MS General insurance company, seeking investigation into an alleged scam involving multiple compensation claims over a road accident death by presenting fabricated FIR copies.

The court had also asked the seven advocates -- V Velu, M Jeevanantham, N Azhakiyakumaran, Ramaa Radhakrishnan, N Shankar, S Natarajan and M Sivamani -- to appear before it and offer their explanation.

After going through the advocates' affidavits, Justice P N Prakash said, "It may have taken a K Parasaran or Fali S Nariman, years of hard work, toil and genuine practice, to reach their level of financial strength meritoriously."
"Here, in this jurisdiction, all you require, it seems, is knowledge of networking and contact, a corpus to invest and muscle power to exercise control over your territory and you are off on a financial joy ride to make easy money."