Allahabad HC Directs UP Bar Council To Consider Holding Elections In All District Bar Associations On Same Day

“…(it) will prevent many disputes pertaining to elections then it should consider issuing necessary orders/ resolutions in this regard making it binding upon all district bar associations,” a bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla observed while directing the state bar council to take a decision in the matter in within three months.

The division bench passed this order on a PIL plea seeking various reliefs regarding the management of affairs and holding of elections of the Faizabad Bar Association. A writ petition seeking similar relief was also moved before the HC.

Hearing both pleas together, the High Court sought to hold the elections smoothly and within time without going into the merits of the dispute between the governing council and the elders' committee.

The occasion to form this committee arose in peculiar circumstances, presented before the bench, as neither the earlier nor the subsequent Elders Committee was acceptable to the parties before the Court.

Given the same, the Court constituted an Elders Committee to take over the affairs of the Faizabad Bar Association and ensure that the elections to its Governing Council are held smoothly and in accordance with law by December 2024.

The court named the following advocates as the members of the said committee:

(a) Sri Jokhu Prasad Tiwari (b) Sri Priyanath Singh (c) Sri Vijay Kumar Srivastava (d) Sri Girish Pratap Singh (e) Sri Arvind Kaul

The Court further opined that only those who regularly practice in the bar association should be part of the Elders Committee.

In its order, the Court directed the committee to take up the following task:

• Take over within three days
• Manage the affairs of the Faizabad Bar Association and initiate the process for holding elections to its Governing Council as per law.
• Ensure that the said process is completed and elections are held and results are declared by December, 2024 and the newly elected office bearers take oath soon thereafter.
• Publish a list of advocates in the public domain in accordance with the Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015, indicating the place of practice of the advocate registered with the Bar Council of U.P. in order to implement the principle of one bar one vote, which shall be strictly adhered.
• Strictly adhere to the rules known as Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules, 2015') and the principle of 'One Bar One Vote' in letter and spirit.
• The newly constituted Elders Committee shall not pass any resolution for abstaining from judicial work.

The Court further ordered that the elected Governing Council will have a tenure as prescribed in relevant bye-laws.

Further, on the issue of repeated strikes at the District Court, Faizabad (Ayodhya), the Court directed that in the event the District Bar Association, Faizabad or those managing its affairs give any call or pass any resolution for lawyers to abstain from judicial functioning for any reason then the same shall be communicated by the District Judge, Faizabad (Ayodhya) to the Registrar General, Allahabad High Court as also the Senior Registrar of this Court at Lucknow.

“…the Senior Registrar of this Court at Lucknow shall place the said communication before the Bench which has been assigned criminal contempt matters for considering initiation of suo-motu contempt proceedings,” the Court further directed.

Importantly, before parting with the order, the Court noted that even after the judgment in the case was reserved, the President and the General Secretary of the earlier Governing Council (which was elected only until December 2023) passed resolutions for abstaining from judicial work, and such resolutions had been passed even on the date of pronouncement of judgment.

Directing the Governing Council/ Executive, which was elected only up to December 2023, to not manage or interfere in the affairs of the Bar Association, the Court disposed of the matters.

Appearances

Counsel for Petitioner: Sharad Pathak, Abhinav Mishra, Piyush Pathak, Prashansa Singh

Counsel for Respondent: Subhash Chandra Pandey, Dilip Kumar Pandey, Ganga Prasad Mishra, Shailesh Pathak

Case title - Dinesh Kumar Singh And Others vs. Bar Council Of U.P. Thru. Its Chairman, Prayagraj And Others and a connected matter 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 494

Case citation: 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 494

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