In Supreme Court Bar Association v. Union of India (1998), what did the Supreme Court hold about…

The Court held that contempt and professional misconduct are "separate and distinct" jurisdictions, and that the power to suspend or remove an advocate for professional misconduct "vests exclusively in the statutory authorities created under the Advocates Act, 1961". Article 142 cannot be used to bypass that due process. An advocate guilty of contempt may also be guilty of misconduct, but only the Bar Council can decide that.