High Court slams corrupt practices in Bar elections
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Playing spiritual and caste playing cards, exhibiting cash energy and providing liquor generously to woo voters occur not solely in basic elections but in addition in elections held for advocate associations and even to the Bar Council, the Madras High Court has lamented.
“Due to such corrupt practices, election process in our country has become a mockery,” noticed Justices N. Kirubakaran and R. Pongiappan whereas ordering that henceforth no office-bearer of an advocate affiliation ought to be allowed to contest for consecutive phrases.
Ending monopoly
In an try to stop monopoly that helps office-bearers to indulge in unlawful actions, corresponding to land grabbing and threatening judicial officers to cross beneficial orders, the Bench ordered that advocates ought to contest in affiliation elections solely throughout alternate phrases.
Passing elaborate orders on a case associated to conduct of elections to the Salem Bar Association, the judges mentioned: “Sadly, our Bar leaders are not properly elected by following a democratic process and without any malpractices. Present members of the so-called ‘noble profession’ are readily selling their votes for money, liquor, foreign tours, etc. This is the practise in almost every election to the Bar association or Bar Council. One Bar association election is the subject matter of this case.”
The judges added: “This courtroom can’t lose sight of the truth that the office-bearers get elected constantly by hook or criminal and have monopoly over the associations. The Bar associations can’t, as a matter of proper, be managed by attorneys with legal or tainted background.
“Office-bearers of Bar associations have to be in touch with judicial officers for smooth functioning of courts and for sorting out problems. If disgruntled elements control Bar associations, it would definitely affect the administration of justice.”
Authoring the decision, Justice Kirubakaran famous that the courtroom will get many complaints from judicial officers about menace and blackmailing perspective of the office-bearers of Bar associations for judicial orders as a result of disgruntled components are constantly getting elected.
“Besides, nowadays, numerous Bar associations are formed on communal and political basis. These are all the realities in the lower courts and this court cannot lose sight of the same. Hence, necessarily, this court has to give directions even regarding the functioning of Bar Associations,” Justice Kirubakaran mentioned.
The Division Bench expressed concern over the Bar affiliation leaders who misuse their official positions to draw briefs and conduct kangaroo courts. Many litigants favor to interact Bar leaders than environment friendly attorneys due to the presumption that the previous may get orders simply.
Sorry state
“Though it is a sorry state of affairs, it is the reality… Sometimes political parties also have their role in getting their party cadres elected as Bar leaders so that they could be used during political protests, agitations and processions,” the judges mentioned.
“This kind of malpractices and wrong methods of elections should be prevented and prohibited; otherwise, the courts/judges will become puppets in the hands of this kind of unruly office-bearers of the associations,” the Bench cautioned.
It additional ordered that the Bar affiliation office-bearers shouldn’t point out the official positions held by them in the affiliation whereas submitting ‘vakalatnamas’ (an authorisation given by a litigant to a lawyer to seem on his/her behalf) earlier than the courts.
