Bar Council's order deferring new rules for BCTP elections stayed

The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) order deferring the resolution adopted by the special committee. A division bench comprising Justice CT Selvam and Justice N Satish Kumar issued notice to SR Raghunathan, BCI’s standing council, and posted the matter to March 1. The bench also directed BCI to consider the matter afresh in a meeting to be convened on February 18. 

However, the bench clarified that the present order of stay shall not act in any manner against convening of such a meeting. The matter relates to the special committee which was formed after the term of the members of the BCTP expired, and to conduct its day-to-day affairs and hold elections. On January 24, the committee adopted a resolution making certain amendments to Sec 8 and 15 of Advocates Act, prescribing the new guidelines for lawyers to contest in the ensuing elections. When these were challenged, the first bench led by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee upheld the new rules after holding that the rules would come into force only after BCI’s approval. But BCI, in its meeting held on February 4, deferred the above resolution. This was challenged by advocate N Vasanthakumar, who submitted that the BCI’s impugned order was arbitrary and against well settled principles of law and long line of precedents.