Delhi HC Rejects Ashok Arora's Appeal Against An Order Refusing To Stay His Suspension From SCBA

The Division Bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Justice Asha Menon has refused to interfere with the observations of the Single Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta in its order rejecting the original plea.

Earlier, while refusing to provide relief, the Single Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta had noted that Ashok Arora failed to establish a prima facie case in his favour.

On May 8, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) suspended its Secretary, Ashok Arora, with immediate effect after the Executive Committee (EC) took this decision in a meeting.

Vide this Resolution, it was also decided that Rohit Pandey, the Assistant Secretary, will take over the roles and responsibilities of the Secretary.

This development came soon after Arora had circulated a message amongst SCBA members, in an attempt to convene an Emergent General Meeting (EGM) on May 11 to discuss the the removal of SCBA President, Dushyant Dave, from his post for passing a Resolution on February 25 condemning public remarks made by Justice Arun Mishra in praise of PM Narendra Modi. Arora had alleged that Dave is using the office of SCBA for political purposes and called for his removal from the primary membership of the Bar Association as well.

On June 5, SCBA issued a notice to Ashok Arora to show cause as to why ex-parte proceedings by a three-member committee should not be initiated against him for alleged imputations laid out in the notice.

Soon after being suspended, Arora had sent out a message to members of the Bar accusing the EC of intimidating him on different occasions and further alleging that Dave's conduct has brought disrepute to the Bar.

In an extraordinary move, the Bar Council of India intervened in the issue to stay the SCBA resolution suspending Arora. The SCBA responded to this by stating that 'BCI has no power to control Bar Associations'