High Court Bar Assn elections challenged

Chandigarh, April 16

Less than a fortnight after the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association poll, a contestant for the president’s post, Chouhan Satvider Singh Sisodia, on Monday filed an election petition for declaring it illegal, unlawful and void.

Directions were also sought to the election committee not to administer oath to the office-bearer till decision on the present petition. Sisodia also prayed for the constitution of a five-member committee comprising senior Bar members for running the affair.

Sisodia claimed the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana issued specific directions to hold the general elections to the executive body of the High Court Bar Association and all Bar associations in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on April 6.

A notification was also issued to deposit the list of final voters by March 15. As such, the cut-off date for depositing annual subscription by the members was March 15. But without taking permission from the general house or the Bar Council, the date was extended by the Election Committee till March 19.

“The Bar Council notification specifically states if the Bar Association fails to make compliance well within time, the Bar Council will appoint ad-hoc committee who will take over the entire control of the Bar Association and will get the election conducted under its supervision,” he said.

Describing it as gross violation of the Bar Council rules, he said the guidelines made it clear that the last date for clearance of dues and taking affidavit from the voters was decided to be March 15.

Permission was neither taken nor granted by any authority for extension of date for filling affidavit. But it was arbitrary and illegally extended. It called for cancellation of elections and conducting fresh poll. The petition is expected to come up for hearing this week. — TNS