Delhi High Court: The present applications were filed pertaining to the elections of the various Bar Associations in Delhi, including the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) and the District Bar Associations in the wake of judicial intervention concerning the structure, eligibility, and representation within these elections. A full bench of Yashwant Varma, Rekha Palli and C. Hari Shankar, J., directed that the elections shall now stand rescheduled to be held on 28-02-2025.
The Supreme Court, in its order dated 19-12-2024, provided specific guidelines regarding the reservation of posts for women and the election process. These directions necessitated a review of the existing election framework by the Delhi High Court, which had earlier scheduled the elections for 07-02-2025. However, in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling and the upcoming Delhi Legislative Assembly elections on 05-02-2025, the High Court revisited the matter.
The Supreme Court order dated 19-12-2024 makes the following provisions insofar as the Delhi High Court Bar Association is concerned: –
“4. Consequently, the following interim directions are issued:
(i) There shall be only one post of Treasurer, as it already exists in the Delhi High Court Bar Association. The said post of Treasurer is earmarked exclusively for women candidates, in the ensuing elections.
(ii) One post of the members of the Executive Committee, who are to be elected from amongst the Senior Designated Advocates, shall also be earmarked exclusively for the women Senior Advocates.
(iii) In the next category of those who are to be elected from amongst Advocates having 25 years of practice, one such post of Executive Member too shall be earmarked exclusively for women candidates.”
Insofar as the District Bar Associations are concerned, they would be governed by the following directions: –
“5. Adverting to various District Bar Associations in the NCT of Delhi, it is directed that in each District Bar Association, the post of Treasurer shall be earmarked only for women candidates of that Bar Association. Since the strength of the members of the Executive Committee/Governing Body of the District Bar Associations vary from Bar to Bar, it is directed that 30% of the posts of Executive Members (including the posts already reserved) shall be earmarked in each District Bar Association for the women candidates having at least 10 years practice to their credit. The directions issued with respect to the composition of Executive Committees of District Bar Associations are also on an experimental basis and may vary in future after consideration of the suggestions received from the Members of the Bar. The elections of the District Bar Associations in the NCT of Delhi shall also be held as per the scheduled dates.”
On the aspect of the order dated 19-03-2024 which lays down the election framework for all Bar Associations in Delhi, the Court noted that these directions are clear and require no further clarification.
The Court directed for publishing tentative voter list by 21-01-2025 and no objections in respect of that list insofar as the Delhi High Court Bar Association is concerned shall be entertained beyond 72 hours from that date. The Scrutiny Committee should bear in mind that it is only obliged to ensure that the basic qualifications to participate in the election process are complied with. In case, any individual who seeks to assert a right to vote has not made the requisite declarations or has omitted to make appropriate disclosures, he/she would have to suffer consequences and the process of scrutiny thus be completed with all expedition.
Taking into consideration the Resolution passed by the Security Committee of this Court and which has in its meeting held on 09-01-2025, resolved that all the Election Commissioners, Returning Officers together with the Presidents/Secretaries of all the Bar Associations would make necessary arrangements for procurement of EVMs/Ballot Papers and coordinate with SEC Communications Pvt. Ltd. for setting up card reader machines and other equipment well in time. Thus, it was directed that the Commissioners, Officers and Office Bearers of all the Bar Associations proceed.
The Court further directed that the elections shall now stand rescheduled to be held on 28-02- 2025.
[Lalit Sharma v. Union of India, W.P.(C) 10363/2021, decided on 17-01-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Appearance not given for petitioners
Mr. Ruchir Mishra, Mr. Mukesh Kr. Tiwari, Ms. Harshita Sharma & Ms. Reba Jena Mishra, Advs. for R-1. Dr. Amit George & Mr. Arkaneil Bhaumik, Advs. for applicant in CM No. 3011/2025. Mr. Ajay Kumar Agarwal, Adv. for Resp./ Bar Council of Delhi. Mr. Tarun Rana, Mr. M.M. Khan, Mr. Sanni Pandey, Mr. Waseem Akram, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Singh, Mr. Shivam Verma, Mr. Mayur Renwal, Mr. Anish Kumar Singh & Mr. Cherish Gujral, Advs. Mr. C.P.S. Gusain, Mr. Devender Rathee, Mr. Dinesh Kumar Bisht, Mr. Rajeev Tehlan, Ms. Sangita Malhotra & Mr. V.P.S. Bhattal, Advs. Mr. Mohit Mathur, Mr. Jatan Singh, Mr. Sandeep Sharma, Mr. Amit Chadha, Mr. Sanjay Dewan, Mr. Inderbir Singh Alag, Sr. Advs. with Mr. Naginder Benipal, Mr. Shyam Sharma, Ms. Bandana Kaur Grover, Ms. Gayatri Puri, Mr.Dhan Mohan, Mr. Rajat Manchanda, Mr. Nishant Anand, Mr. Nitesh Mehra, Mr. Siddharth Tripathy, Mr. Sumit Misra & Mr. Ankit Siwach, Advs. for DHC Bar Association. Mr. T.Singhdev, Mr. Tanishque Srivastava, Mr. Abhijit Chakravarty, Mr. Bhanu Gulati, Mr. Aneem Hussain, Mr. Sourabh Kumar & Ms. Yamini Singh, Advs. for BCD. Mr. Ajay Kumar Aggarwal, Adv. for BCD. Mr. Sanjay Jain, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Mr. Neeraj, Mr. Satya Ranjan Swain, Mr. Vedansh Anand, Mr. Yash Tyagi, Mr. Kautilya Birat, Mr. Sanjay Pal, Mr. Rudra Paliwal, Mr. Ankush Kapoor, Mr. Soumyadip Chakraborty, Mr. Sandip Munian, Mr. Kushagra, Mr. K. Kansal & Mr. Kartik Sharma, Advs. in CM No. 3011/2025. Mr. Pawan Narang, Sr. Adv. for Scrutiny Committee. Mr. Rakesh Kumar, President with Mr. Ramesh Sharma and Mr. Lokesh Garg, Advs. for STBA. Mr. Parveen Kumar Gambhir, Adv. for STBA