The Orissa High Court on Monday directed the State Bar Council to ensure elections to form the executive bodies of all the 167 bars in the State by this month-end on the principle of ‘one bar, one vote’.
The High Court also quashed the February 24 resolution passed by the Bar Council in which at least 12 bar associations, including the Cuttack Bar Associations, were given the liberty to hold their elections at a later date.
Deciding over a PIL filed in this connection, a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice KS Jhaveri made it clear that the elections to different bars should be made simultaneously on the principle of one bar, one vote.
Briefing reporters, senior advocate Ashok Mohapatra said the High Court has acted in accordance with a judgment passed earlier by the Supreme Court. “Even, the Bar Council of India and the State Bar Council have passed similar resolutions,” he said.
The ‘one bar, one vote’ rule was set by the Supreme Court in 2015 to identify the number of genuine advocates practicing in different courts of the country. “The rule allows multiple memberships of different bars but one voting right to a lawyer.
The bar associations of the State have already been provided with their respective voters’ lists indicating the individual advocate’s choice of the bar to participate in the annual elections to form its executive body by the end of March.
