We will not be bullied: Meghalaya bar bodies snub SCBA over its support for Advocate General Amit Kumar

The Meghalaya High Court Bar Association and the Shillong Bar Association on Monday told the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to refrain from interfering in their internal affairs.

SCBA had last week urged the bar bodies to reconsider and withdraw their joint resolution seeking action against Meghalaya Advocate General (AG) Amit Kumar.

The bar associations had passed the resolution after the AG criticised them for allegedly failing to provide safe environment to women lawyers and female interns in Shillong.

In a response sent to the SCBA, the two Shillong-based bar bodies have now accused Kumar of using his clout to sell a false narrative.

They also accused him of misguiding the SCBA about the facts leading to the stripping of his bar association membership.

"We have no desire to engage in a confrontation with the SCBA. At the same time, we wish to make it unequivocally clear that the members of our bar associations will not be intimidated, pressured, bullied or compelled to abandon a decision democratically taken by our members merely because the person affected by that decision is lobbying in your corridors," the bar bodies said.

They further stated that SCBA's intervention in their internal affairs "through some perceived sense of supremacy or favouritism" sets a dangerous precedent which ought to concern every bar association in the country.

"In this regard, does the SCBA claim to have a better understanding of the local circumstances in our Bar Associations? Does the SCBA claim to have a better understanding, than the lawyers/members who witnessed the court proceedings where the said vilifying statement was made by Mr. Amit Kumar against our Bar Associations and its members? Can SCBA interfere with the democratic decision made collectively and unanimously by members of our Bar Association? Is the SCBA an Apex Body that can substitute its judgment for that of ours who are well conversant of what is happening in our respective Bar Association?," the letter adds.

The response was sent to the SCBA Secretary Pragya Baghel by Meghalaya High Court Bar Association Secretary General Kishore Ch Gautam and Shillong Bar Association Secretary TL Jyrwa.

The controversy stemmed from submissions made by the advocate general before the Meghalaya High Court in a suo motu case related to the alleged physical assault and public parading of an advocate in Shillong. The advocate had earlier been accused of molesting a law intern.

Following the Advocate General's statement before the Court, the two bar associations passed a joint resolution expelling Kumar from their rolls and called for his removal as Advocate General.

The SCBA, however, last week expressed concern over the resolution and called for its withdrawal. It said that the safety and dignity of every member of the legal profession must remain a collective responsibility of the bar.

Today, the Meghalaya High Court Bar Association and Shillong Bar Association said that the Advocate General had, without any evidence, accused the bar bodies of failing to provide a safe environment for the women advocates.

They added that these "reckless" allegations were made when the State government itself was required to answer uncomfortable questions concerning mob violence and police inaction.

"Mr. Amit Kumar is guilty of trying to vilify the name, image and repute of the Bar Associations simply to gain an unfair advantage in the court room. He is also guilty of playing a victim by hiding behind the plight of an intern and peddling a false narrative. He is neither concerned about the victim nor about the welfare of the women in the Bar. He is desperately trying to please his client, the State, by fighting unfairly and without any integrity," the bar bodies told SCBA.

Thus, the Meghalaya High Court Bar Association and the Shillong Bar Association said the SCBA request for reconsideration of their decision amounted to questioning the collective judgment and intelligence of the members of their bar.

Meanwhile, the Shillong-based bar bodies also alleged that a draft copy of the purported SCBA resolution was shown by a junior of AG Kumar to other lawyers in the corridors of the High Court on the morning of August 14. Even the formal resolution was first shared by Kumar himself in the Government Panel Advocates' WhatsApp group on the same day, they said.

"Apart from the remarkable speed at which the SCBA rushed to rescue Mr. Amit Kumar, this sequence raises a concern as to how his office obtained the draft and final resolutions before they were formally received by our Bar Associations. Perhaps we could brush this aside as a coincidence or simply because of his connection in SCBA since he is a member?," the letter asks.