Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday stayed a resolution of its bar association that sought to overcome an apex court verdict restricting its membership to regularly practising lawyers in order to control bogus voting in its elections.

The apex court bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J. Chelameswar stayed the resolution till Friday when it will next take up the matter for hearing.

The resolution, passed Monday, expelled from the bar association’s primary membership three senior lawyers who were appointed by the court to identify advocates who were regularly practising at the apex court.

Those who were expelled were senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, P.P. Rao and Ranjit Kumar.

While staying the resolution, Justice Kabir made it clear that he was displeased with the manner in which some of the bar members behaved.

Admonishing the lawyers for their indecent behaviour, Justice Kabir said: “Members of the Supreme Court Bar Association are a cut above the rest. They should uphold the decorum of the court. It will be a shame if the image of the judiciary suffers.”

“The judiciary is the institution holding this nation together and keeping a balance”, Justice Kabir observed and cautioned “don’t destroy this institution, for God’s sake”.

The court said this when senior counsel Venugopal told the court that a senior counsel was “manhandled” in the court corridors for taking up the their cause and nine Delhi Police personnel had to escort him to his car.

“We are afraid of even moving about in the court corridors,” said senior counsel.

While chiding the lawyers for their misconduct, Justice Kabir told them to respect senior members of the bar.

The members of the SCBA are agitated over the three-member committee fixing 50 appearances in two years for a lawyer to qualify to be in the category of regular active members of the bar association.

The extent of dissatisfaction among the lawyers was evident Wednesday when they heckled senior counsel Harish salve when he raised the issue of the SCBA general body expelling three senior members in court.

It may be recalled that in pursuance to the principle of “One bar one vote”, the Supreme Court in its Sep 26, 2011, judgment said that the SCBA members whose names may not figure in the final list of the regular practitioners would not be entitled to either vote or contest the elections for the office bearers of the apex body of the lawyers.

“The members of the SCBA, whose names do not figure in the final list of regular practitioners, shall not be entitled to either vote at an election of the office bearers of the SCBA or to contest any of the posts for which elections would be held by the SCBA,” the judgment said.