SUPREME COURT BAR ASSOCIATION Vs. B D KAUSHIK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) I.A.No.5 of 2012 has been filed on behalf of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in Civil Appeal Nos.3401 and 3402 of 2003 which were disposed of by this Court on 7th May, 2012, with various directions. In fact, this application arises out of the said directions.

(2.) The aforesaid appeals had been filed on behalf of the Supreme Court Bar Association and its then Honorary Secretary, Mr. Ashok Arora, and Ms. Sunita B. Rao, Coordinator, Implementation Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association, against an interim order passed by the Civil Judge on 5th April, 2003, on an application for injunction filed in Civil Suit Nos.100 and 101 of 2003. In the said appeals various questions were raised regarding the administration of the Supreme Court Bar Association. One of the questions raised was with regard to the amendment of Rule 18 of the SCBA Rules governing the eligibility of the members of the SCBA to contest the elections to be elected and to elect the Office Bearers of the Association. After an extensive hearing, the appeals were disposed of by a detailed judgment with various directions, on the basis of the principle of "One Bar One Vote" projected by the learned Advocates who appeared in the matter.

(3.) While disposing of the said appeals the Hon'ble Judges noticed that there were many Advocates, admitted as members of the SCBA, who did not practise regularly in the Supreme Court and were members of other Bar Associations and that the majority of them made their presence felt only during elections for the Office Bearers of the SCBA. This Court was, therefore, called upon to devise a mechanism by which those members of the SCBA who practised regularly in this Court could be identified as members who could be entitled to vote to elect the Office Bearers of the SCBA, and those who would not be entitled, while retaining their membership. After considering the matter at length, Their Lordships came to the conclusion that in order to identify those advocates who practised regularly in the Supreme Court, the criteria adopted by this Court for allotment of Chambers, as explained in Vinay Balchandra Joshi Vs. Registrar General of Supreme Court of India, 1998 7 SCC 461, should be adopted for the purpose of identifying the members who would be entitled to vote to elect the Office Bearers of the SCBA. Their Lordships, accordingly, directed that the criteria adopted in Vinay Balchandra Joshi's case , should be adopted by the SCBA and its Office Bearers to identify those advocates who practised regularly in the Supreme Court. A further direction was given that the Office Bearers of the SCBA or a small Committee to be appointed by the SCBA, consisting of three Senior Advocates, should take steps to identify the regular practitioners in the manner indicated in the order, and, thereafter, to prepare a list of members regularly practising in this Court and another separate list of members not regularly practising in this Court and a third list of temporary members of the SCBA. These lists were directed to be posted on the SCBA website and also on the SCBA Notice Board. It was also directed that a letter should be sent by the SCBA to each member, informing him about the status of his membership, on or before February 28, 2012. Any aggrieved member would be entitled to make a representation to the Committee within 15 days from the date of receipt of the letter from the SCBA, and if a request was made to be heard in person, the representation was to be heard by the Committee and a decision thereupon was to be rendered in the time specified therein. The decision of the Committee was to be communicated to the member concerned and the same was to be final, conclusive and binding on the member of the SCBA. Thereafter, a final list of advocates regularly practising in this Court was to be displayed by the SCBA.