The issues surrounding verification of lawyers and conduct of elections to various State Bar Councils will be heard by Supreme Court on November 13..A Bench of Justices RK Agarwal and AM Sapre today heard Senior Advocates Rajiv Dutta, Jayant Bhushan and V Giri, before adjourning the matter for November 13..Dutta, appearing for the Bar Council of India (BCI), submitted that the Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to oversee the verification process has decided to meet every 15 days to consider the same..Jayant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that though the Court had fixed November 11 as the deadline for verification, the same has been extended by the Committee to November 30. This, he argued, goes against the order of the Supreme Court..“This would result in elections getting delayed again which should not be permitted.”.He also argued that the manner in which the process is being undertaken would mean that it will not be completed by November 11..“Hence, those who have submitted their verification applications should be allowed to vote in the elections. They should not be disenfranchised.”.Senior Advocate V Giri, representing former members of the Kerala State Bar Council, also made similar submissions. He told the Court that verification with respect to ninety percent of the lawyers is complete. However, verification of ten percent of lawyers is held up due to delay by concerned Universities. He argued that this should not come in the way of holding elections..The Bench after hearing the parties said that it will consider the case on November 13..Back in August, the Supreme Court had granted lawyers fifteen days to submit their application forms for verification of degrees by the BCI under the Certificate of Practice Rules, 2015. The Court had also passed orders directing State Bar Councils to hold elections by August 31..However, for various reasons, the verification process has not gone as smoothly as envisioned. Earlier this month, contempt petition was filed against the Karnataka State Bar Council for its alleged violation of Supreme Court orders..Click here to download the Bar & Bench Android App
The issues surrounding verification of lawyers and conduct of elections to various State Bar Councils will be heard by Supreme Court on November 13..A Bench of Justices RK Agarwal and AM Sapre today heard Senior Advocates Rajiv Dutta, Jayant Bhushan and V Giri, before adjourning the matter for November 13..Dutta, appearing for the Bar Council of India (BCI), submitted that the Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to oversee the verification process has decided to meet every 15 days to consider the same..Jayant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that though the Court had fixed November 11 as the deadline for verification, the same has been extended by the Committee to November 30. This, he argued, goes against the order of the Supreme Court..“This would result in elections getting delayed again which should not be permitted.”.He also argued that the manner in which the process is being undertaken would mean that it will not be completed by November 11..“Hence, those who have submitted their verification applications should be allowed to vote in the elections. They should not be disenfranchised.”.Senior Advocate V Giri, representing former members of the Kerala State Bar Council, also made similar submissions. He told the Court that verification with respect to ninety percent of the lawyers is complete. However, verification of ten percent of lawyers is held up due to delay by concerned Universities. He argued that this should not come in the way of holding elections..The Bench after hearing the parties said that it will consider the case on November 13..Back in August, the Supreme Court had granted lawyers fifteen days to submit their application forms for verification of degrees by the BCI under the Certificate of Practice Rules, 2015. The Court had also passed orders directing State Bar Councils to hold elections by August 31..However, for various reasons, the verification process has not gone as smoothly as envisioned. Earlier this month, contempt petition was filed against the Karnataka State Bar Council for its alleged violation of Supreme Court orders..Click here to download the Bar & Bench Android App
