Delhi High Court seeks BCI response on plea seeking fresh elections to Bar Council of Telangana

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Bar Council of India (BCI) on a plea seeking dissolution of the terms of the current members of the Bar Council of Telangana (BCT) and fresh elections [Sri Ponnam Ashok Goud v. Bar Council of India Through its Secretary & Anr]. . Justice Yashwant Varma has also sought the State Bar Council's response on the matter and listed the case for further hearing on March 14, 2023..The plea was filed by former President of the Telangana High Court Advocates' Association, Ashok Goud. It seeks to set aside a letter issued by the BCI on November 12, 2022 which said that the members of the BCT were entitled to complete a tenure of five years from the date of their appointment in 2018. .The petition, filed through Advocates Pradeep Mahajan, Tushar Mahajan and Rohan Yadav, argued that the BCI letter was violative of Section 54 of the Advocates Act 1961, which states that the tenure of members of a State Bar Council constituted for the 'first time' will be two years."Respondent no. 2 (BCT) was constituted for the 'first time' in the month of November 2018 and its members were elected for the 'first time' on 17.1.1.2018 yet, by way of the letter/communication dated 12.11.2020, respondent no. 1 has acted contrary to the mandate of the Advocates Act 1961 and permitted the members of respondent no. 2 to continue in office for a period of five (5) years," the plea said..The Court was told that Section 34 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 provided for the constitution of a new and separate Bar Council for the newly formed State of Telangana."The elected members of the first bar council of Telangana, who were elected on 17.11.18, ought to have held office only for a period of 2 years only till 16.11.2020 or until new members were elected in pursuance of a fresh election thereafter. Fresh elections ought to have taken place in any case after 2 years," the plea submitted.However, despite the unambiguous position of law, the elected members of Telangana's Bar Council continued to hold office even till today, much later than the statutorily prescribed period of two years, the plea added.