Delhi High Court: Advocate-Client Privilege No Bar to GST Probe of Lawyer's Conduct

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by an advocate challenging a GST Department search at his office and the seizure of his computer and other documents [Puneet Batra v. Union of India & Ors]. A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain ruled that advocate-client privilege cannot operate as an absolute bar against an investigation into the conduct of an advocate.“There can be no dispute that communications and material protected by advocate-client privilege are entitled to the protection recognised in law. However, such privilege cannot operate as an absolute bar against an investigation into the conduct of the Advocate himself, where the Respondents have placed prima facie material indicating that the Petitioner may have acted beyond the role of a legal adviser and may have been involved in the affairs under investigation," the Court observed. Delhi High CourtThere can be no dispute that communications and material protected by advocate-client privilege are entitled to the protection recognised in law. However, such privilege cannot operate as an absolute bar against an investigation into the conduct of the Advocate himself.Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Shail JainAdvocate Puneet Batra had approached the High Court challenging the search by the Anti-Evasion Branch of Central Goods and Services Tax Department at his office and the consequent seizure of his computer’s central processing unit (CPU) and other documents. Bat