Karnataka HC Allows 78-Year-Old Advocate to Resume Practice After COVID-Era Licence Surrender

The Karnataka High Court has allowed a 78-year-old advocate to continue practising law despite having earlier surrendered his licence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court dismissed an appeal filed by the Karnataka State Bar Council and upheld a previous order permitting senior lawyer Channabasappa Lingappa Mokhashi to resume his legal career. The ruling effectively confirmed that the advocate could continue his professional practice after complying with specific procedural requirements linked to the earlier surrender of his licence.

The decision was delivered by a division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C. M. Poonacha on February 20. The bench upheld the earlier ruling passed by a single judge of the Karnataka High Court, which had allowed Mokhashi to resume his legal practice. The court also dismissed the appeal filed by the state bar council challenging the decision, thereby clearing the way for the senior advocate to continue working in the legal profession.

According to court records, Mokhashi had voluntarily stopped practising law during the COVID-19 pandemic and surrendered his ‘sanad’, or certificate of enrolment, which authorises advocates to practise in courts. The licence had originally been issued by the then Mysore Bar Council. Following the surrender, Mokhashi had also availed himself of certain benefits available to advocates who discontinue practice, a factor that later became relevant in the legal dispute over his return to the profession.

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The High Court noted in its order that Mokhashi had complied with all directions issued earlier by the court. This included returning the benefits he had received after surrendering his certificate. Once those benefits were refunded and the procedural requirements were fulfilled, the court held that there was no legal barrier preventing him from resuming his practice as an advocate.

Court documents further showed that the senior lawyer had been enrolled with the Mysore Bar Council on July 17, 1973, and had completed more than five decades in the legal profession. His long career and compliance with the court’s directions were considered relevant factors in the final decision allowing him to continue practising law.

With the division bench dismissing the appeal, Mokhashi’s right to practise law stands restored. The order also clarified that since the certificate had been returned and the benefits refunded, the advocate had already resumed practice, bringing closure to the dispute between Mokhashi and the Karnataka State Bar Council over his eligibility to continue working in the legal profession.

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