On Wednesday, R Manjunath, who is representing the victim in the sex-for-job case, had organised a live session on Facebook and other social media platforms. During the course of which he alleged that several lawyers have misused the funds pertaining to the stamps of the welfare fund. He also alleged that fake stamps were available in the Karnataka High Court and compared what was happening with the Telgi case.
Taking a stern view of the allegations made during the live session, the Karnataka Bar Council suspended Manjunath with immediate effect and issued a show-cause notice to him on Friday.
Subsequently, several lawyers complained to the Bar Council about Manjunath's conduct and demanded action. The Bar Council in its notice also said he had caused huge damage to the credibility of the Council. And that maligning the Bar Council’s reputation with baseless and derogatory statements amounted to serious misconduct. The notice further noted that Manjunath’s action was detrimental to the profession of an advocate.
In a meeting held on Friday, the Council, under its resolution no. 50/2021 decided to take a suo moto action, issue notice against Manjunath, and put him under suspension with immediate effect, pending enquiry, a statement issued by Karnataka Bar Council Chairman, I Srinivasa Babu, read.
The show-cause notice issued to Manjunath called upon him to explain within ten days, why his name should not be removed from the rolls of the Karnataka State Bar Council.
The sex-for-job case erupted in Karnataka more than a month ago, and Ramesh Jarkiholi, the BJP MLA from Gokak, was forced to quit as a minister on March 3, after a social activist, Dinesh Kallahalli lodged a police complaint alleging sexual harassment of a woman. Immediately after he lodged the complaint, video clips of the same surfaced on local news channels, as well as on social media.