"Political stunt": BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra hits back at YR Sadasiva Reddy's call for his resignation

Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman and Senior Advocate Manan Kumar Mishra has rejected allegations levelled against him by fellow BCI member YR Sadasiva Reddy in a letter demanding that Mishra step down from the post of chairman. 

Speaking to ANI, Mishra dismissed Reddy’s letter as being part of a political vendetta, and also disputed references to Reddy as a BCI co-chairman. 

Mishra claimed that Reddy is not the co-chairman of BCI.

"First of all, I must clarify that he is not a co-chairman of the Bar Council of India. Rather, today, he is not even a member of the State Bar Council. He has not contested the elections of Karnataka State Bar Council and the results of Karnataka Bar Council have already been declared. Therefore, he is no more even a member of the State Bar Council of Karnataka," Mishra said.

It may be noted that the BCI’s web page for its office bearers shows Reddy as a co-chairman at the time of writing this article. 

Mishra further said that Reddy belong to another political party and supports Congress and his statements are borne out of political vendetta.

"He belongs to another political party and normally supports Congress people. Therefore, it's all a political vendetta and a political stunt. He has been the member of the Bar Council of India for the last about eight and a half years. But throughout those eight and a half years, he has never opened his mouth (about the concerns flagged in Reddy’s letter),” Mishra said. 

Earlier today, Reddy had written to Mishra demanding that he resign as BCI Chairman within fifteen days. The letter set out several grounds for the demand, including allegations that the BCI had drifted away from its expected standards under Mishra’s 14-year-tenure and that funds were irregularly diverted to a trust named BCI Trust PEARL set up during Mishra’s term.

Reddy alleged that this trust received a transfer of roughly ₹150 crore from BCI funds, despite objections from several BCI members.

Reddy also claimed that he received complaints that law colleges seeking BCI approval or renewal were made to pay "contributions" ranging from ₹25 lakh to ₹1 crore to the BCI Trust PEARL.

Denying such allegations of financial improprieties, Mishra stressed that the trust’s functioning was completely transparent and that its managing trustees included Bar Council members and Senior Advocates. Mishra also said that Reddy had been a member of the BCI for eight-and-a-half years but had not previously raised objections regarding the BCI Trust Pearl, of which Reddy himself was a trustee.

“Anyone is welcome to examine the accounts. The trust undergoes an annual audit. The audit report is incorporated into the budget, published and made available in the public domain. Now he is talking about a trust of which he himself is a trustee. Therefore, these baseless allegations levelled by Mr Reddy have no meaning at all. He has no concern with the Bar Council of India today. He is not a co-chairman. He is not even a member of the State Bar Council,” Mishra said.

Mishra maintained that such issues arise because of internal politics, noting that he and Reddy have been colleagues for over eight years. Mishra added that he has even helped out Reddy in the past when the Karnataka Bar Council passed a no-confidence motion against him, which was then placed before BCI. 

“I was the (BCI) chairman who defended him, saying he should not be removed in such a manner,” Mishra told ANI. 

Mishra also asserted that Reddy’s statement will not affect BCI’s functioning. 

"Nobody will take notice of him. Just 15 mins back, the BCI members, we have held a physical meeting. All the members are standing in solidarity with me and the BCI is still a very strong institution, and it will be a very strong institution in the future also. Therefore, whatever a man like Reddy or ABCD, whatever they may say, it has no value at all."

Notably, Reddy’s letter came in the wake of an August 13 communication issued by Mishra in his capacity as BCI Chairman, warning law students of NALSAR Hyderabad that they may be debarred from enrolling as advocates if they are found to behind a campaign against having Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant present during the law school’s convocation. 

This directive was recalled hours later, amid widespread criticism. In his letter, Reddy stated that Mishra had issued the directive without consulting the remaining members of the council. 

“The office of Chairman was used to threaten an entire graduating batch of law students - young men and women with no power and no voice - with exclusion from the profession, as reprisal for having held an opinion," Reddy's letter had said.

The letter went on to refer to reports of demonstrations by lawyers seeking Mishra’s resignation as an indication of advocates having lost confidence in the BCI as it stands now.

A petition was also recently filed before the Supreme Court seeking Mishra’s resignation from the post of BCI chairman. 

Speaking to ANI, Mishra, however, said that he continues to enjoy the support of over two-thirds of the BCI and will continue in his post as long as he has the support. 

“(Translated from Hindi) I am an elected representative. I was neither selected nor nominated to the Bar Council of India. Even today, more than two-thirds of the Bar Council members support me. If a handful of individuals are making baseless allegations, whether regarding a trust or the appointment of a relative, there is no substance to them. These unfounded claims are surfacing only now. Manan Mishra will remain president as long as the country's lawyers, the voters, want him to stay,” Mishra said. 

He added that it is only a handful of individuals who have no connection to the BCI, “such as those from the CJP (Cockroach Janata Party)", who are making baseless allegations against him,.

“They have even gone so far as to call lawyers ‘legal cockroaches.’ This is deeply shameful for the legal fraternity, and the community of lawyers will never tolerate such baseless and frivolous remarks,” Mishra remarked.