SC asks BCI to reconsider rule banning bar association leaders from contesting bar council polls

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Bar Council of India (BCI) to reconsider its rule which restrains office-bearers of bar associations from contesting elections to the state bar councils.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi passed the order on a plea filed by lawyer Dhanya Kumar Jain and disposed of the petition.

The plea challenged the Bar Council of India Uniform Rules (and Mandatory Guidelines) for the Elections of Bar Councils, 2016.

The impugned provision states that an advocate, who is an office-bearer of any bar association except the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), shall not be eligible to contest the election of a state bar council.

It further provides that the returning officer shall reject the nomination papers of any such person who was or is an office-bearer of any bar association on the date of notification of elections of the concerned state bar council.

While state bar councils are a statutory body, the bar associations are private organisations of lawyers practising in a particular court or tribunal.