JAMMU,Feb 06: A division bench of Supreme Court of India comprising of Chief Justice, Justice J.S. Khehar and Mr. Justice N.V. Ramana today passed a historic order allowing writ petition filed by Prof.Bhim Singh, Member of J&K Bar Council & a Sr. Advocate in the Supreme Court of India to hold elections for J&K Bar Council at the earliest. Prof.Bhim Singh has filed this writ petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking its intervention for the implementation of the Advocates Act, 1961 and direct the Bar Council of India to hold election for the Bar Council in J&K. Prof.Bhim Singh in his writ petition filed in 2013 had pleaded to for holding election to the Bar Council of J&K so that the lawyers fraternity in J&K does not remain deprived of the privileges and the constitutional gurantees which are being enjoyed and shared by the Bar Councils in all other states since 1961.
The Legislative Assembly of J&K in 1986 with the initiative of Prof.Bhim Singh, the then Member of Legislative Assembly as Panthers Party MLA had passed an Act in July 1986 with the passage of Advocates Act as it was passed by the Parliament in 1961.
In his writ petition Prof.Bhim Singh expressed shock where the lawyers fraternity in J&K were not brought under the cover of the Advocates Act even after the Legislature of J&K had cleared the passage of this Act in J&K. Prof.Bhim Singh in his petition regretted that lawyers fraternity was kept out of this privilege whereas the High Court of J&K was given the powers provided in Section 58 of the Advocates Act to look after the enrollment and remained deprived of all other privileges, basic amenities and other benefits which were provided to the members of the Bar Councils in the rest of the country guaranteed in Section 6 of the Bar Council Act of 1961.
Prof.Bhim Singh in his writ petition submitted that;
I. Because the Bar Council of J&K has not been constituted in accordance with the Advocates Act, 1961, which was extended to J&K in 1986, hence the present Bar Council in J&K headed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of J&K is illegal, improper, unconstitutional as it is constituted in violation of fundamental rights of Lawyers fraternity thus, violating the provisions of Articles 14, 19, 21 as well as the provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961.
II. Because the lawyers fraternity has been discriminated by the respondents as the lawyers have been denied their right to elect their own Bar Council as it has been practiced in all other States of India.
III. Because keeping lawyers fraternity in J&K away from sharing their democratic rights at par with the lawyers community in all other States amounts to discrimination with the lawyers who have been fighting for the cause of civil liberties and democratic rights of the citizens.
IV. Because the failure on the part of the respondents No.2 to 4 to frame Rules to hold election of the Bar Council in J&K under the Advocates Act, 1961 in 32 years till this date leaves not an iota of doubt that the respondents have deliberately chosen to deny democratic right to the lawyers’ fraternity in J&K.
The Hon’ble Chief Justice appreciated the continuous legal fight of Prof.Bhim Singh for the cause of lawyers fraternity and their constitutional rights for such a long time. He told Prof.Bhim Singh that the Court was satisfied by his continuous legal fight for the cause of his brethren lawyers and he declared that, “We have allowed the writ petition and we are sure that the elections to the J&K State Bar Council shall be completed at the earliest.
The counsel for the Bar Council submitted before the Supreme Court that they needed sometime for the publication of the Gazette. The Hon’ble Supreme Court granted four weeks to the Bar Council of India to complete the process to hold elections to the Bar Council of J&K.
Prof.Bhim Singh was assisted by Mr. B.S. Billowria, Mr. S.K. Bandopadhyay, Mr. Vijay Pratap Singh, Advocates.
|