AWADH TRIPATHI Vs. THE BAR COUNCIL OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order shall govern disposal of both the writ petitions i.e. WP(C) Nos. 1981 & 2212 of 2014, as both the petitions arise out of and raise common issues with regard to the election of the State Bar Council of Chhattisgarh (for short 'the SBC') to elect 25 members. Both the writ petitions were analogously heard on admission, intervention and vacating stay.

(2.) IN WP (C) No. 1981 of 2014 (for brevity "1st petition") the petitioners have prayed for a direction to the respondent Nos. 2, 3 & 4 to register First Information Report (for short 'FIR') and submit a preliminary enquiry report before this Court; for directing the election process of the SBC to some other agency from the stage where the allegations have been leveled and to handover all the records to an independent agency for further action from the stage of second round of counting (counting of the second preference vote) and for further direction to the respondent No. 1 i.e. The Bar Council of Chhattisgarh through officiating Chairman, Advocate General (for short 'AG') to make a request to the other respondents to take cognizance of the matter for investigation about the allegations leveled in the writ petition.

(3.) PETITIONERS of both the writ petitions are Advocates and contesting candidates in the general elections of the SBC, for which votes were polled on 14 -8 -2014. The term of the office of the outgoing body of the SBC expired on 15 -11 -2012, which was extended by the Bar Council of India (for short 'the BCI') for a further period of six months, thereafter, under Section 8A of the Advocates Act, 1961 (for short 'the Act, 1961'), election of the SBC was required to be conducted by a special committee. When the election process was stared on 5 -5 -2013, during the extended term, the said notification was challenged in WP (C) No. 1366 of 2013 (Ashok Kumar Tiwari V. Bar Council of India & others). By order dated 20 -3 -2014, the said writ petition was allowed in part directing the BCI to constitute a committee in terms of Section 8A by extending the term of existing committee or by constituting new committee under Section 8A of the Act, 1961. The Special Committee functioning at that time was allowed to discharge the functions of the SBC till the new elections are held.