Advocate VR Kamalanathan re-elected as Madras Bar Association President

Advocate VR Kamalanathan has been re-elected as the President of the Madras Bar Association (MBA) following the polls held last month.

This is his second term as the MBA president. He was elected to the post in 2021 as well.

Advocate J Pothiraj has been elected the new Secretary of the MBA while advocate VT Balaji has been elected treasurer.

Advocate D Raja will serve as the librarian.

Further, Advocates Muizz Ali, Y Kavitha, G Arulselvi, P Elayarajkumar and V Vasanthakumar have been elected members of the MBA's executive committee.

The Madras Bar Association is the oldest among the bar bodies of the Madras High Court, the others being the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association, the Women Lawyers Association and the Law Association.

The MBA was constituted in 1865, three years after the Madras High Court was established by royal charter. At the time, it was christened simply as the ‘Bar Association’ and membership was open only to British Barristers.

After a decade or two, Indian Barristers were permitted to become members. In 1898, the Association was renamed as the ‘Madras Bar Association’. It was only in 1951 that membership was made open to advocates who obtained law degrees from Indian Universities.

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